


Surprises

by snowspriestess



Series: Multichapters [6]
Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-21 19:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 50,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16582715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowspriestess/pseuds/snowspriestess
Summary: After all those years, Zelda did not even believe it possible anymore. But then, one morning, she wakes up to horrid morning sickness, and from there on things just keep getting messier.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was just a random idea i had at some point, but it might have multiple chapters, we'll see.

It started out rather subtle, as a light sickly feeling whenever she drank her morning coffee, or lit her cigarette. Zelda brushed it off as a stomach upset, not much giving it a second thought.

Or, not until she woke up one morning and immediately hurried to the bathroom to vomit for a solid five minutes, until even Hilda had woken up and came to check on her.

“Are you alright?” she had asked with concern in her eyes, and brewed her a sage tea which was supposed to make it all better. It did not, unfortunately, but the sickness left as sudden as it had came.

Zelda had almost forgotten about it, shoved it to the back of her mind, right until 6am in the morning one day later, when she again collapsed in the bathroom and emptied her stomach. This was the first time it really got her thinking.

Witches did not get sick. They did not get food poisoning or whatever else mortals carried around with themselves. One benefit of following their Dark Lord was perfect health, and she had never head a reason to believe otherwise.

Which eventually lead her to the question what was wrong with her, and the reason which crept into her head at first notice made her even more sick in her stomach.

But it could not be… _or could it?_ Fairly, she had no idea. She had been a midwife for many years, but never once given the idea of her own pregnancy a second thought, especially not after practically adopting Sabrina.

And so the following night when every other Spellman was asleep, she went downstairs into the basement, gathering a few useful supplies and performed a little ritual. A circle of salt, two candles, one lit. As soon as she spoke the words of the spell, the second one should be lit aflame as well, if she was indeed carrying a child.

Which part of her still rejected, since she had never, in her many years of sleeping with dozens of people, had a similar issue. At some point she had simply assumed it was not possible, which was fine the way it was. But now she was anxious, as she held the book which contained the spell in shaking hands.

The words filled the room, her voice also slightly trembling. 

For a split second, nothing happened. It was utterly silent, not even her own breathing filled the room.

Then the second candle caught fire, burning with the same bright light as the first one.

Shortly, Zelda felt like she might faint. She sat down on the next available chair, her heart racing inside her chest. Her thoughts seemed to be spinning out of control. This was as unfortunate as it could be, being utterly honest with herself. What was she supposed to tell her family? And, even worse, the High Priest?

_In Satan’s name, what had she gotten herself into?_

At first she considered not telling Faustus at all, but she would never be able to hide it for all eternity. He was bound to find out, anyway.

Carefully, she rested a hand on her belly, not even aware why.

 

She knew that it was inappropriate to visit the High Priest in his office in the middle of the night, but somehow she felt like the issue could not wait. On the other hand she feared that in the morning, she would no longer have the courage to tell him.

Her hands were still shaking as she knocked on his door, waiting for him to call her inside. He did so almost immediately, which made her wonder if he might have expected her.

“Sister Zelda”, he greeted, not even looking up from the books he was studying. At this point, the formal term was almost a mockery. Finally, his dark eyes met hers. “It is the middle of the night. What can I do for you?”

It surprised her that he did not opt for a midnight spanking session on his desk, even though she would have had to decline, anyway. This had brought enough sorrow to the both of them already.

“I need to speak to you about something. A matter of importance.”  
  
Something in her tone must have alarmed him, since he stopped reading and leaned back in his chair to look at her. “Very well”, he replied, making a gesture which implied for her to continue speaking.

Suddenly, she felt very dizzy. The thick air of the room seemed to cloud her vision, and she had probably fallen, if Faustus had not jumped from his chair in order to steady her. “Zelda, in Satan’s name”, he exclaimed, letting her lean backwards against the wood of his desk, still keeping one hand resting on her waist. “What is going on?” he demanded to know.

She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with much needed air. This was absolutely not going as planned. “I believe I might be-” her throat was too dry for her to continue speaking, the fear seemed to swallow every word.

He frowned at her, listening carefully. “You might be what?” he asked impatiently, just on the verge to sounding annoyed. Still, there was something else in his eyes, something others might have called concern. Or worry, at the least. She could not blame him, having almost collapsed in front of him just seconds ago. He was probably thinking she had lost her mind.

Again, Zelda was searching for words. Or the will to say them. “I believe I might be carrying your child.” It sounded much more simple than it was, and she said it in such a neutral tone that it sounded wrong in her own ears. But the words were out, and the High Priest’s face told her everything she needed to know.

An uncomfortable silence followed, neither of them willing to break it.

Eventually, Faustus submitted. “Are you certain?” he wanted to know, still not even thinking about expanding the space between them. His hands was still resting just above her hip, steadying her. She was not certain if he had ever touched her like this, while being fully dressed.

“I am”, Zelda replied, feeling as if her heart might jump out of her chest. She was hoping he did not notice.

Another five seconds passed in utter silence, the High Priest obviously trying to determine a course of action. “Very well”, he finally said. “So be it, then.”

Of all the things he could have said, this was the least she had expected. “Excuse me?” Zelda asked, more confused than anything.

“Perhaps the Dark Lord has finally seen it fit to give me my heir.”

Constance had died a good two months ago, during a rather complicated birth of twins who not even Zelda with all her skills could save. Faustus had gone into mourning for two weeks, even if not for his late wife, but only the children.

But even considering that, Zelda was utterly startled. She had expected him to curse her, send her away even, or perhaps say something along the lines of “I do not care, do what ever you please with the child”, but not this.

And it turned even more surprising when suddenly, he rested a hand on her belly. She would have winced at the movement, if she did not have the amount of utter self control she had ever practised.

“So how are we dealing with this?” she wanted to know, not certain what to make of this whole scenario. Was she supposed to be excited? 

He looked at her for another moment, before slowly leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “However you would like to, Zelda.”  
  
And in this moment, perhaps the future ahead did not look too daunting after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Originally Zelda had planned to keep dragging the unfortunate moment of telling her family out for as long as possible, but word travelled fast in the Spellman household – especially secrets, and so they all found out at their own pace.  
  


It was a morning just after Zelda was eight weeks into the pregnancy, and she had just spent a good part of the entire night lying awake in her bed because of the horrible back pain she was having.

It was half past five when she eventually gave in and – after a short visit to the bathroom to get rid of the food she had consumed for dinner – teleported herself to the Academy. She had stayed in Faustus’ office until dawn, pacing the room, sitting down, watching him read and go over books, exams and whatever other work he was doing. At some point he had grown so annoyed by her constant walking that he had given her a good amount of conjuring tests which needed grading, one of them being Sabrina’s. Zelda’s heart swelled with pride as she noticed that her niece had answered almost everything correctly.

And so she had spent the night working, at least better than listening to Hilda’s annoying snoring all the time. Besides she had the feeling that Faustus was happy to keep watch over her, since he mentioned a few times that she was supposed to get her blood pressure and other vitalities checked “just to be certain that everything was going smoothly”. She appreciated the concern, but this was really not the High Priest’s business.

In the morning she had teleported back into her bedroom, lying down just until Hilda was finally waking up. Downstairs in the kitchen, her sister was beginning to brew tea as usual, as Zelda sat down on the table and began gathering her paper. She noticed that her sister was eyeing her suspiciously from time to time, so she had to assume that perhaps Hilda had woken up once during the night and had noticed her sister’s absence.

Hilda’s eyes were still fixed on her as she put the tea down on the table, purring her sister a cup. She smiled, almost shyly. “I mixed in some herbs from the garden, Zelds, you know. Just to be sure that the baby-” she never finished the sentence, but the intention was more than clear.

Zelda almost dropped her paper, trying to keep a straight face. “The what?” she hissed back. For the love of Lucifer, was there no privacy in this house?

Hilda tilted her head. “Did you really think I didn’t notice?” She smiled. “I’m so happy for you, Zelda. I really am.”

For a moment, there was silence. Zelda was trying to keep herself together, since she felt the pregnancy hormones already beginning to get to her, as her eyes were slightly watering. “Stop this nonsense, Hilda”, she half sniffed, taking a quick sip of tea. “It’s just a baby.”

Hilda shrugged. “Well, it’s your baby.” She handed her sister a tissue.

Zelda attempted to wipe the tears away, already feeling embarrassed about her emotional outbreak. She was barely two months into this, she needed to keep herself together. On the other hand this had made telling her sister a lot easier, however there was still the question whether Hilda had already been sharp enough to conclude whose baby she was carrying. In all honesty, Zelda had the unfortunate assumption that her sister had known for quite some time.

“So”, Hilda began, raising her cup to the lips to take a sip of tea herself. “How did the High Priest take all of this?” She put the cup down. “You have told him, have you?”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Of course I have”, she replied dryly. “We are-” she was not certain what they were, after all. “working on it.” This seemed to summarize the whole scenario quite well. “He is hoping for an heir”, she decided to add. But this was pretty much as in depth as she wanted to go, at least with her sister.

“Alright”, Hilda answered, sounding rather delightful. “I would love another baby in the house. Sabrina is growing up so fast.” She sipped on her tea. “The High Priest is welcome too, of course. If he wants to, you know, fill my space in your bedroom.”

This was too much, even for Zelda. “In Satan’s name, Hilda”, she exclaimed, reaching for the paper in order to hide behind it.

She could still hear her sister giggling, unfortunately so.

 

After this incident, a part of Zelda had already suspected that her sister would not be able to keep her mouth shut for long, and that soon the entire family would know all about it. Still, she was hoping to postpone the critical moment for some more weeks, days even.

However, Hilda was not to be trusted with, and so it came that one afternoon when she returned from the choir practice at the Academy, Ambrose met her in the entrance hall. “Aunty Zee”, he greeted, smiling the sort of smile that he always wore when he had done something rather impulsive. Or stupid, mostly so.

Zelda sighed deeply. “Ambrose, what have you done now?” she demanded to know, hands on her hips.

“What?” he exclaimed surprised, scratching his head. “Nothing. Just running some autopsies, the usual stuff.” He smiled again. “I was just meaning to, you know, ask how you’re doing.”

Zelda frowned. “I’m doing fine, why wouldn’t I?” She was suspecting something already, but was still hoping that she might be wrong.

Ambrose looked rather startled. “Um”, he muttered, attempting to buy time. “Aunt Hilda mentioned something,” he began slowly. “About you being, I mean-” He smiled nervously. “Pregnant.”

Zelda was already planning Hilda’s next murder in her head. Could her sister not keep _one_ thing to herself? She ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes for a second. “Well”, she eventually replied. “I’m glad Hilda has chosen to inform everyone already”, she said dryly. It was not even meant to be sarcastic.

“I’m so happy for you”, Ambrose added hectically, pulling her into a hug. “Really, I mean, wow!” He let go of her quickly, obviously not realizing that his Aunt absolutely did not wish to have this conversation right now. “Do you need anything, I could run some tests or-”   
  
“Ambrose”, Zelda interrupted firmly. “I can take care of myself, thank you.”

Her nephew nodded quickly. “Yes, I know. Aunt Hilda just told me to keep an eye on you, that’s all.”

_Hilda would be the death of her someday._ “That’s just perfect”, Zelda muttered, half to herself. Something else was much more urgent, though. “Does Sabrina know?”

Ambrose shrugged lightly. “I don’t think so.” He grinned slightly. “But she is not going to be delighted to hear that Father Blackwood is going to be an even more frequent guest around here soon.”

Great, Hilda had mentioned that detail, too. _Marvellous._ Zelda rolled her eyes. “She’ll deal with it.”

“Guess she’ll have to”, Ambrose replied, giving his Aunt one last smile and disappearing back into the basement.

Zelda sighed, continuing her way into the kitchen.

 

It was a foggy morning barely a week later when Zelda returned from the Academy, slipping back into the Spellman house as silently as possible. Usually she would teleport back, but today she had felt so sickly that she thought the fresh air might help her calm down a little.

Faustus had not liked this idea at all, insisting on accompanying her through the woods, mumbling something about “evil spirits” and other dangers. Zelda had resisted and rolled her eyes, but in the end he had come with her nonetheless. Perhaps she was even a little moved at the concern, although she never showed.

The air did not do any good anyway, unfortunately, and so she had to take the fastest route to the downstairs bathroom, cursing herself and the High Priest who had put her in this misery. She remained seated on the cool bathroom floor was a few minutes, waiting to recollect herself. Only a few more days and she would leave her first trimester, hopefully making the morning sickness go away.

Suddenly, she heard steps on the stairs and before she could react, her niece was standing in the doorway. “Aunt Zee”, Sabrina exclaimed surprised, furrowing her brows. “What is going on?”

“Nothing, Sabrina”, Zelda fussed, getting up as quickly as possible and straightening her dress. “Why are you up already? It is barely past five!”

The teenager merely shrugged. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Zelda sighed, leading Sabrina to the dark kitchen. A snip of her hands and the lights went on. “Sit.” Perhaps this was not the optimal timing, but it would have to do. Better this way than Hilda or Ambrose telling her. She would not understand, that way.

Sabrina sat down across the table, fingers nibbling on the top of her pyjamas. “What’s going on, Aunt Zelda? You’re scaring me.”

Zelda smiled mildly. She felt sorry for lying to Sabrina, for keeping secrets. “There is something I need to tell you”, she said firmly, trying to not let her emotions get the better of her. Crying in front of Sabrina seemed even more embarrassing than in front of Hilda.

“Alright”, the teenager responded, looking back at her Aunt with utter seriousness. _She was really growing up._

Zelda took a deep breath, instantly wishing she could go light a cigarette. Which she could not for another ten months, naturally. Another thing she blamed the High Priest for.

Sabrina started to get restless, beginning to move on her chair. “Come on, Auntie, don’t tease me like that!” she sighed, resting her head on her arms. “Spill it!”

“Very well”, Zelda replied dryly. “I am carrying a child.”

Her niece’s jaw dropped open, her eyes widened. “What?” she exclaimed, almost jumping from her chair. “H-How?” she stuttered, voice slightly trembling. It took her a moment to pull herself back together. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone”, she added with a lot more firmness, out of a sudden.

Zelda wondered if she had learned that trick from herself. “Well, we were not _exactly_ seeing each other”, she began, not sure how to explain it to Sabrina. To her, the concept of two adults not being in a committed relationship did not really exist yet.

“Who is it?” Sabrina directly added, now more curious than anything. “Do I know him?” She studied her Aunt’s face. Perhaps she was a lot more clever than Zelda allowed herself to realize, because suddenly the girl's expression changed. “Oh.” She hesitated a moment. “I do know him, don’t I?”

At this point the secret was out anyway, so all Zelda could do was nod defeated. “Yes, you do.”

Sabrina bit her bottom lip, examining her Aunt’s face. “So you’re going to be the next Lady Blackwood, then?”   
  
It was such an abstract concept that Zelda could not help but laugh at the thought of that. “In Satan’s name, no”, she replied, shaking her head slowly. “I sure hope not.”

Now her niece seemed even more puzzled. “But I though, you and him...” she made a meaningful pause. “You know what.”

Sometimes, Sabrina was a child after all. “We’re still working on it”, Zelda replied softly, since she was not sure how else her niece would understand. “But I most likely will not become Lady Blackwood any time soon.”

It was not something she had not thought about herself, but it seemed ridiculous to her. She and Faustus had known each other for so long, never quite certain what sort of relationship they even had. Changing that uncertainty felt wrong, and frightening.

Sabrina nodded slowly, obviously still comprehending all the new information. “So”, she concluded. “I guess I’ll have to start being nice to Father Blackwood now?”

Zelda smiled slightly. “I believe you do”, she replied softly.

The teenager sighed, getting up from her chair and before Zelda could realize what she was doing, Sabrina had wrapped her arms around her. “I’m really happy for you, Aunt Zelda”, she whispered, not even thinking of letting her Aunt go.

“Alright, Sabrina”, Zelda interrupted, afraid she might just start sobbing again. She pushed the girl away gently, running a hand through her blonde hair. “Go back to bed and get some more sleep.”

Sabrina was still smiling from ear to ear when she nodded and turned around to leave, stopping one last time in the door frame. “Tell Father Blackwood that if he breaks your heart, I’ll curse him!” She grinned wickedly, the sort of grin Edward used to have whenever he had a brilliant idea. “I need someone to practice my blood curses on.”

“To bed, Sabrina”, Zelda demanded, shaking her head as she listened to the teenager’s steps on the stairs. Still, she could not resist the slight smile which had formed on her lips.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea where i'm going with this story, but someone wanted more zelda/faustus under the last chapter so here you go!

She was five weeks into the pregnancy when the sickness started to slowly fade away, finally if Zelda might say so herself. Still, the pain in her back and the insomnia she had developed following that stayed, and so she never really gave up the habit of staying at the Academy until the morning hours. Or perhaps she just used it as an excuse to spend more time with the High Priest. She was never sure which of the two options it truly was.

It gave her a weird sort of comfort, sitting there on Faustus’ sofa and reading, grading tests or whatever other task she could find. It made her strangely nostalgic, too, at times.

When Edward had still worked at the Academy or also later when he had been High Priest already, Zelda used to spend hours in his office, just hiding away from her annoying sister or the other students. She used to read the books Edward read, and then get in debates with him over whether the information provided were in fact right or wrong. It was a game they had played, those discussions, and no one had ever really understood them.

This particular night she was grading a test from Sabrina’s demonology class, which her niece gladly had absolutely excelled. Which was no surprise, since it had been a surprise test no one but Father Blackwood would have known about, if he had not left the test lying around on his desk. Zelda had only told Sabrina the pages she was supposed to revise, no answers of course, so it was not even fully cheating. Besides, she needed to make up for the fact that she was about to have a baby with the man Sabrina hated. A little bribing and manipulating from her side was surely allowed in such a situation.

“Is Sabrina doing well? Here at the Academy?” Zelda asked into the silence of the room, still studying the test. “She seems to be one of the top students.”

Faustus frowned, not even trying to conceal the fact that he did not like that at all. He had made this expression whenever she mentioned Sabrina since the girl had solved the configuration he had worked on for ten years within a couple of days. “Your niece is doing fine”, he replied dryly, gaze already back on his books.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the High Priest. Still, it made her proud to see that Sabrina was obviously taking after herself and her father. Zelda had finished the Academy at the top of her class, and so had Edward of course.

At some point Zelda was even unable to sit down, the pain in her lower back only seeming to relax whenever she was walking around.

Faustus watched her for a moment, eyes following her through the room. He seemed to be debating whether to say something or not, his face already wearing the usual look of annoyance he wore whenever she decided to pace the room like this.

However, he remained silent, much to her surprise. Usually he would either make a comment about her distracting him or give some half-useful advice about how she should rather lie down and relax because it was better for the child.

She was half on her way to mock him about it, but then restrained herself. Perhaps she did not need to be negative about everything.

Instead she walked over to his bookshelf, letting her eyes skim over the titles. Most of those she had read already, studied even. But one title in particular stood out, made her stretch her arms and take it from the shelf. _Summoning higher demons._ She opened the book to the one page she remembered, and looked at the familiar picture of the demon summoned by this spell.

As if he had read her mind, the High Priest was looking up from his work. She was not sure if he had seen it in her face or caught a glimpse of the page when she opened it, but he seemed to be thinking the same thing. “I hope you don’t ever wish to try that spell again”, he commented.

Zelda shook her head, closing the book at once. Nostalgia, again. “Don’t worry, Faustus, one time was enough for my taste.”

She still remembered when she had showed the page to Edward, practically begging him to perform the spell with her. She had always wished to see a higher demon, let alone be able to summon one. He had told her no, repeatedly, but as stubborn as Zelda was, or even more had been back then, she only took that as more of a challenge. And how convenient had it been that Edward used to have an older mentor, one Zelda already had quite the history with.

Faustus had been much easier to convince, since she could use the entire variety of her charms on him. In the end she had summoned the demon, only to accidently have it escape and nearly kill her, to the point where she had to tell Edward what happened and listen to a whole hour of him yelling at her about how close she came to actually dying and something else about Spellman family honour.

“Perhaps your niece got her rebellious spirit from you, after all”, the High Priest interrupted her thoughts.

Zelda only frowned. “Which is why she better never finds out about that particular story.” She knew better than to encourage Sabrina to try anything of the sorts. Besides she needed to keep her face in front of her niece.

His eyes were still resting on her, to the point where it began to make her uncomfortable. “But we always made quite the team, did we not?”

The question surprised her, and for a second she could not think of anything to say. Not many things ever left her speechless, but this surely did. To buy some time, or conceal the fact that she did not wish to give an answer to that, she walked through the room and sat down again, although it was entirely uncomfortable.

Again, he seemed to be reading her face. “Does your sister not have a potion for that?” He frowned slightly. “Or some to cure your sleeping problems, for that matter.”

Zelda eyed him, crossing her arms in defense. “I can take care of myself.” Hilda’s teas or whatever she brewed together might be great for Sabrina’s teenage heartache, but she wanted none of it.

Faustus sighed at the words, running a hand through his face. “As you wish.” He leaned back in his chair, waiting a few seconds before continuing to speak. “Come here.”

At first, Zelda was not even certain if she had understood correctly. “What?” she responded in surprise, forgetting her manners for a hot second. Perhaps she should not be speaking to the High Priest in that tone, but it was too late now anyway.

This time, he went as far as to roll his eyes at her. She was not sure if she had ever seen him do that before. “Come”, he repeated, more urgent this time.

Zelda considered the offer for another few seconds, before getting up and slowly walking towards the desk. She could feel how tired she was by now, but the thought of lying down and sleeping did not exactly spark her mood.

But before she could give the idea of returning home a second thought, Faustus had reached for her hand and pulled her towards her, forcing her to sit down on his lap. “What are you doing?” she muttered, half offended, but not enough for him to let go of her.

Actually, she was too tired to much think about this anyway and so she just held still while he wrapped his hands around her hips, resting her head on his chest. She was close enough to hear his heartbeat.

In all honesty she had never considered to ever find herself in this position, but oddly enough it made her feel calm and secure. Maybe she even liked it, a little. More than she would ever admit to anyone.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Zelda had just finished choir practice, when Sabrina walked up to her. She had put her niece in the spot of mezzo soprano, making her the lead singer together with Prudence. The other girl had not liked that at all, but there had not been much discussion about it.

“Aunty Zee”, her niece began. “I got an A on my demonology test!”

Zelda smiled mildly. “I know, Sabrina, I graded it.” She gave her niece a firm look. “Although you could have gone into a little more detail in task three.”

The teenager frowned. “Since when are you grading tests?” She crossed her arms, looking at her suspiciously. “Is that why you are never at home anymore? I barely ever see you outside the Academy.”

For a moment, Zelda even felt a little guilty. She had skipped breakfast with the family a few times the last weeks, she had to admit so herself. But the thought of drinking Hilda’s herbal teas with who ever knew what was inside only to throw up from the taste five minutes later did not exactly sound like the perfect morning to her. “I’m sorry, Sabrina, I haven’t been feeling too well”, she offered a half-apology, fully aware that this was probably not what the girl had been wanting to here.

Suddenly, the teenager looked almost alarmed. “Why? Is something wrong?” She slipped a little closer. “With the baby, I mean.”

“No”, Zelda quickly ensured her. This was not at all what she had meant with the statement. Sabrina worrying about her well-being was the last thing she needed, or wanted. Faustus’ protectiveness was costing her enough nerves. At this point it was a wonder he did not insist on accompanying her while she full filled her duties at the Academy.

Sabrina still did not seem entirely convinced. “Then why are you spending all this time away from home?” She almost sounded like a little girl again, six instead of sixteen.

“I don’t sleep very well”, Zelda explained vaguely. “And I don’t want to keep your Aunt Hilda awake all night.” It was half of the truth, after all.

However, her niece was much more clever than she would sometimes like. “So you spend time with Father Blackwood instead”, Sabrina concluded, nodding slowly. “I understand.” She bit her lip in concern. “He doesn’t plan another surprise test in demonology, right? I haven’t caught up with all the studying yet.”

Zelda frowned. “Not as far as I am concerned.” She gave her niece a stern look. “But that is no excuse to neglect your studies!”

The teenager sighed. “I know, but I had so much fun with my friends this weekend, I just forgot about it.” She smiled shyly. “And tomorrow Harvey and I want to go apple picking again.” As if she was reading her Aunt’s mind she quickly added “but no Malum Malus this time, don’t worry Aunt Zee.”

“We indeed had enough of that nonsense”, Zelda replied dryly, not even wanting to think back to that time when Sabrina had still resisted her Dark Baptism. It had all been such an unpleasant mess. “But I do wish you would focus less attention on that mortal boy and more on your academic career”, she added.

“Well, is that so”, Sabrina replied, smirking a little. “I also wish you would spend a little less time with Father Blackwood and more time at home.”

Sometimes Zelda wondered where her niece had gotten this attitude from. Herself, most probably. “That is not the same thing”, she half snapped back, running a hand through her hair. “If you excuse me now, I have work to do, Sabrina.” She sighed. “And so do you, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Of course, Aunt Zelda”, Sabrina muttered, reaching for her books and clutching them under her arms. “I’ll see you at dinner, _right?”_

Zelda smiled. “Most certainly”, she replied, watching the teenager nod and leave the room, already half absorbed in her volume _conjuring for beginners._ She was just like her father, at that age. Edward had always been ambitious, but also easily distracted. Especially when it came to female students.

She shook her head at the memory, reaching for her keys and making her way over to the High Priest’s office. If she wanted to be home in time for dinner, she needed to finish her work before and therefore she was in need of some books from his office. She was planning to have a test in her Russian seminar tomorrow, and still needed to set up the tasks. Or that was the excuse she told herself, and was planning to tell Faustus.

As usual she knocked on the door and waited for him to call her inside, which he did almost immediately. “Zelda”, he greeted, on the verge of sounding alarmed. “Is something wrong?”

She frowned. “No, what would be wrong?” The door fell shut behind her. “I need a history book for my Russian class”, she explained, already on her way over to the shelf. She could feel his eyes piercing through her back, following her every move.

He was hesitating to say something, she could sense it in the tension in the air. Eventually, he got up from his chair. “There is a matter I would like to discuss with you.”

Zelda turned around, the book already in her hands. “Of course, what is it?” she replied, attempting to keep a neutral tone even while he was coming closer and closer.

He stopped a few inches away, eyes never letting go of her. “Earlier today I had a revelation from the Dark Lord.”

Actually, she was not at all in the mood to listen to this right now, but he was her High Priest after all, so she just remained silent.

Still, she was not at all prepared for what happened just a second later. Before Zelda could do anything to react, Faustus had joined their lips in a hungry kiss. At first she was too perplex to even properly understand what was happening, since he had not kissed her like this in weeks. Almost naturally she opened her lips, not even fully grasping what she was doing.

Eventually she found the willpower to break away, half stumbling a few steps back to restore the space between them. “Faustus, I-” she began, but was interrupted.

“The Dark Lord showed me everything I needed to know, Zelda.”

He was running a hand along her face, caressing her cheek bone and jaw. She was only seconds away from a heart attack, her heart beating so fast in her chest she was afraid he might hear. _What in Satan’s name was he doing?_

“This child is a sign from the Dark Lord himself”, he went on, still not letting go of her face. “A sign that we should be together.”

Zelda starred at him in utter surprise, her mind entirely blank. Had he just told her that he wanted a _relationship?_ The sort of thing Sabrina and the mortal had, with holding hands, kissing, going on dates? To her, that sounded more than bizarre. Like the sort of joke only the devil could come up with.

However, if this was not enough, Faustus Blackwood took it to the next level when only a second later, he added something which sounded even more bizarre. “It has taken me so long to see things clearly”, he continued, resting his hands on both sides of her face. “Zelda, I would like you to become my wife.”

The words stayed in the air for a few moments, the silence being almost alarming. She almost felt like laughing. _For the love of Lucifer, what was she supposed to answer?_ Suddenly she felt very dizzy again, the room seeming to spin around her.

Once again he needed to steady her, which was well deserved, since all of it was his fault, anyway. “You need to get your blood pressure checked”, he commented, as neutral as if he had not just asked her to become the next Lady Blackwood.

“I-” Zelda stuttered, trying to pull herself back together. “I will not become your wife just like that, Faustus.” She added a half insecure laugh. “You can not really be serious about this.”

He frowned. “Why not? We have known each other for centuries.”

Zelda took a deep breath. “Can we discuss this another time? I need to lie down.” It was not even a lie, she really did feel like lying down. Her head was still spinning.

He eyed her carefully, nodding slowly. “Of course, as you wish.” Carefully he let go of her, as if he was expecting her to faint any minute. He pressed a light kiss onto her forehead, before moving backwards a few steps.

It took Zelda’s last energy to teleport back to the Spellman house, standing in the yard and slowly breathing in the clear air for some time before she was able to go inside. _Now she really needed one of Hilda’s teas._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm slowly running out of ideas here so if there's anything you want to see, please please let me know in the comments!


	5. Chapter 5

“Aunt Zelda?”

Sabrina’s voice ripped Zelda away from her thoughts, and back to reality. The Spellman’s were all seated around the dinner table, Hilda had cooked, and Sabrina was telling some sort of story about Baxter High. In all honesty, Zelda had all but listened, her mind still occupied by the events earlier today. “Yes, Sabrina?” she replied as neutral as possible, trying to focus her attention on her niece.

“Are you even listening to me?” the teenager asked, tilting her head a little. “I have been talking about WICCA for like half an hour and you haven’t once interrupted me to say ‘you should focus more on your actual education at the Academy’.”

She knew her Aunt too well, after all. “Well, now that you say so yourself,” Zelda responded dryly. “You _should_ spend less time trying to save the world and more time on your classes.”

Sabrina smiled proudly. “I’m the best in my demonology class. I’m even better than Nicholas Scratch.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, love”, Hilda commented, looking over to her sister. “Zelda, you haven’t touched your dinner yet. Is everything alright?”

Zelda took a slow sip of her tea, one that was supposed to be calming her nerves. So far it did everything but work. “Yes, simply marvellous.” She could not completely hide the annoyance from her voice. Dinner was the last thing she needed right now, not only because the smell of food still made her feel slightly sickly. Her sister was also a lot more observant than she would like, and somehow she was afraid Hilda might read the happenings which had played out earlier today from her face. She did have a way of finding things out that she shouldn’t, always had.

Zelda still vividly remembered the moment in her sixth year at the Academy, just shortly after Edward had taken on his position as teacher there, when Hilda had walked in on Zelda and Faustus, also a teacher at that time, and herself sharing a rather intimate moment. She had begged her sister not to tell Edward, offered all the bribes she could think of, even offered to be nice to her for the rest of her life. In the end, Edward had found out anyway. Since the incident with the demon a few years earlier, this had been the angriest she had ever seen her brother.

Although she had to admit that sleeping with a teacher had not been one of her most brilliant ideas, it was much easier to just blame her sister for what happened. Edward had sent her away afterwards, to some other Academy in Europe, and she had not spoken a single friendly word with her sister until she returned almost ten years later.

At this point her brother and Faustus were already fighting for the position of High Priest, of course dragging Zelda right into it. Although already being engaged to Constance, Faustus had done everything in his power to convince Zelda to manipulate Edward’s work, including numerous sexual advances which sadly, she was not able to resist after all.

He had broken the affair off after discovering that she had no intention on betraying her brother, and one thing lead to each other and more sooner than expected Edward was wearing the robes of High Priest.

She had accompanied her brother to the Blackwood wedding, standing next to him while watching the man she had once perhaps almost been in love with marry another woman. A woman who she did not even hate, but who had always been sort of a friend to her.

Afterwards things had gotten messier and messier, leading right up to a complicated birth of two infant twins who were born long before their time and had no chance to survive. Zelda had been the one to tell Faustus, listening to his accusations that it was her fault for what felt like hours without ever saying a word. Two days later he had come to the Spellman house, demanded a private audience and kissed her without ever explaining what was going on. And to her great despair this was most probably the occasion from what the baby in her womb resulted.

“Aunty Zee?” This time it was Ambrose’s voice which interrupted her nostalgic thoughts. “Do you want me to take care of the bodies?”

She blinked a few times, trying to remember what he had just said. “Which bodies?” she asked, as if she had not even been present the last five minutes.

Her nephew smiled an understanding smile. “The couple which is supposed to come tomorrow morning.”

Zelda cleared her throat. “Yes, Ambrose, please do so. I’ll be at the Academy.”

“Of course”, he replied.

She felt Sabrina’s eyes resting on her, who was slowly chewing on her potatoes. “When do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?” she asked into the silence. Not that it had anything to do with the topic what so ever.

“It’s still a bit too early, I believe”, Hilda replied in her sister’s stead.

Sabrina frowned slightly. “How many weeks are you pregnant, Aunt Zee?”

Zelda shifted in her chair, uncomfortably. Perhaps her family did not need to find out that they had all been in the house when it had happened. That was an embarrassment she could do without. “Sabrina, don’t you have homework to do? I heard you have quite some work to do in conjuring”, she tried to change the topic, although not very subtle.

Her niece seemed to have understood the hint, though. “Of course, Aunt Zelda”, she muttered, pushing her chair back and standing up. “Maybe you can tell Father Blackwood that reading twenty pages of conjuring each night is too much. Some of us have regular homework to keep up with!”

Ambrose chuckled, and Zelda rolled her eyes. “I’ll let him know”, she replied sarcastically, watching her niece and nephew both leave the room.

Hilda remained seated, sipping on her tea for a moment. There was something she wanted to say, it was obvious.

“In Satan’s name, Hilda, what’s the matter?” Zelda asked, perhaps more rudely than she would have needed to be. She regretted it a little, once the words were out.

Her sister shrugged slightly. “Nothing, I just thought we could run a little blood test just to, you know, see if everything’s going smoothly.” She eyed her sister carefully. “See how many weeks you’re in.” As Zelda did not react, she added a quick “Ambrose could do it, it wouldn’t take long.”

Zelda sighed. “Why not.” She was sure Faustus would appreciate it, considering how obsessed he was with her well being at the moment. Or had been, she was not certain whether this had changed after she had so bluntly rejected his proposal.

There was a moment of silence between the sisters. However there was something else she had been meaning to ask Hilda, she just had to find the right words. “Hilda,” she began, her sister raising her head.

“Yes?”

She pressed her lips together, wringing her hands. “Would you… consider being my midwife?”

Hilda’s face lightened up. “Of course, Zelds”, she replied softly, her eyes even slightly watering. “I would love to”, she added.

Zelda made a face. “If you start crying I’ll take the offer back”, she commented, giving her best to keep her own emotions at bay. _Oh how she hated those damn pregnancy hormones._

Zelda had never been a cryer, not like her sister who started sobbing at basically any film which had a basic love story or tragic ending. She still remembered the evening they had watched Dirty Dancing with Sabrina, Hilda sitting next to her sobbing through the entire last part of the movie.

“So”, Hilda sniffed. “We will do the blood test then, alright?”

Zelda sighed. “Tomorrow morning.”

 

Hilda went to bed at 11pm as usual, leaving Zelda sitting on the sofa in the dark living room on her own. She was half considering to lay down to sleep as well, but the pain in her back made her change her mind. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever get a good night’s sleep in these thirteen months of pregnancy. But sitting in the dark did not exactly made her feel better, either.

Although she had actually been planning to drag out the moment of facing the High Priest again for some more hours, she was craving the comfort of sitting in his office with him by her side. And she could easily use the excuse of wanting to return the Russian book she had borrowed earlier.

She debated the idea in her head a few more minutes, before finally getting up and teleporting herself into the Academy, right into the hallway before the High Priest’s office. Her hand was slightly shaking when she knocked on the door, the answer taking longer than usual. He knew it was her, obviously. Who else would come at this hour.

Faustus was seated where he was always sitting when she entered, not even bothering to look up from his books as she closed the heavy wooden door behind her. “Zelda”, he simply stated, no emotion in his tone.

She cleared her throat, already walking over to return the book to its shelf. “I came to return this”, she stated the obvious, even though it was an outright lie.

Faustus did not answer, simply continuing to read his papers. He was angry with her, which he had every right to be.

Being entirely honest, she was not even certain why she had rejected the proposal like this. She certainly did like the idea of being in the position of the High Priest’s wife, and all the advantages which came with it.

But their history had been messy enough, fate never seeming to be on their side, and so it just felt like this was a last desperate shot to repair something which had been broken from the start. Apart from that, marriage had never been something she craved, anyway. The thought frightened her, a little.

Still, she wanted to make this right. “Are you not going to speak to me?” Zelda asked into the silence, slowly sitting down on the sofa. She felt a headache rising, already feeling slightly dizzy again. Teleporting really did not agree with her lately.

The High Priest looked up, eyes piercing through her. “You rejected me.” He sounded angry, but his voice was calm.

“I didn’t reject you”, Zelda defended herself. “I just did not give an answer.”

Faustus clenched his jaw. “Which is the same as saying no.”

He was not wrong, being honest. “Marriage is not for me”, Zelda tried again, although it was a weak argument, even in her own ears.

He got up from his chair, walking towards her. To her surprise, he kneeled down in front of her. “We should have done this a long time ago. After you came back from Europe.” She had never known Faustus Blackwood to be someone who gave up easily, she had to admit so much.

Still, she was just as determined to keep her position as he was. “Before or after you married Constance?” she responded, not able to keep the spite completely hidden. It sounded like jealousy, even.

His eyes darkened a little. _“You_ were the one who left the Academy.” Now he almost sounded accusing.

Zelda frowned. “I didn’t realize I owed you anything. We never had a real relationship, after all.” She had not meant to be upsetting, but for a split second he looked genuinely hurt, like she had never seen him before.

Very suddenly, he got up and moved away from her.

They had never argued before, she had never seen it fit to speak her mind to bluntly, but now it did not matter, anyway. She was carrying his child, whether he was her High Priest or not.

“So you do not wish to be my wife”, he concluded.

She got up from the sofa again, not knowing what else to do. “Faustus”, she began, almost pleading. “I don’t know.” It was all she could say, really.

Their eyes met for a moment, neither one wanting to break the silence. Too much had happened, too many things which had left them as broken as they were now.

At last, Zelda made the decision to just go for a change of topic. This dreadful conversation needed an end. “I will make a blood test tomorrow morning, to make certain everything is fine.” It was a simple statement, but she was hoping it might get his attention.

She was right, fortunately. “Why, are you feeling unwell?” he replied, frowning with concern.

“It’s only a precaution”, she ensured him. “And perhaps we can… try to determine the sex, at some point. See if the Dark Lord rewards you with a male heir.”

He nodded slowly. “Do whatever you see fit.” The thought of a boy to continue the Blackwood legacy even brought a little smile to the High Priest’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a mixture of some of the ideas people suggested under the last chapter, if you have more ideas please let me know!


	6. Chapter 6

They did the blood test right before breakfast, Hilda being all fuzzy and making sure her sister was lying comfortably, while Ambrose put the needle in her arm and conducted the examination. “I’ll run it right away”, he promised, with Zelda ensuring him that there was no need to rush it.

After that they had breakfast, Sabrina talking about her date with Harvey and giving Ambrose tips where he could go and have lunch with Luke. Zelda was only half listening, pretending to read her Chinese paper. After the blood test she felt even more dizzy, and her lack of eating probably did not make things any better.

Hilda went to work afterwards, Sabrina to Baxter High and Ambrose took Zelda down to the basement, to present the results of the test. “Your blood pressure is a bit high, Aunty Zee”, he noticed. “But that’s probably just the stress.”

 _The stress of an unwanted proposal, indeed._ She attempted to shrug it off, muttering something about stress at the Academy.

“You’re about twelve weeks in”, her nephew continued, still looking at the computer screen. “So the morning sickness should be gone soon enough.” He frowned a little. “Wasn’t Lady Blackwood’s birth about three months ago?”

Usually she was an exceptional liar, but today she could not help but blush. He had been meant to find out, anyway. Ambrose was much too clever for her liking.

“And didn’t Father Blackwood _stop by_ just around the time, too?” he added, already grinning wickedly.

There was no sense in denying it anyway, so she just decided to run with it. “If anyone finds out about this, you’ll wishing another lifetime of house arrest is all that’s being done to you”, she snapped, already on her way to the door. “I’m eleven weeks in.”

Ambrose chuckled. “My lips are sealed, Aunty Zee.” His eyes sparkled with amusement. “But the next time you decide to screw the High Priest in this house, please tell me before so I can leave.”

She rolled her eyes at him, leaving the room without another word. Actually he did not care too much about Ambrose knowing, as long as Hilda and Sabrina did not hear any of it.

Three months was still a little too early to determine the sex, but she might as well use a spell and see what she could find out. Sometimes one just got lucky.

Maybe the sight of a male heir would make Faustus less angry with her, and forget about the proposal idea. She still felt like he was upset, since they had not spoken much more last night. But if he was trying to manipulate her into giving in and saying yes, he was quite wrong.

They had been like this for a very long time now, never quite knowing what they felt, let alone what the other did. Sometimes she did wonder if it was more than infatuation which had driven her back to him all those times, although she had repeatedly told herself to stop. Perhaps her self control was not that good, after all.

She went outside into the yard and collected a couple of snails, setting a pentagram up on the kitchen table. It was a simple ritual, really. If the animals stayed in the middle of the five pointed star it was supposed to be a girl, and if they spread out a boy.

She had performed this spell seventeen years ago when Diana had been with child, and Edward had been delighted to see that they were expecting a little girl. Only a few weeks later the doctor had confirmed the same thing, and her brother had been a proud as never before.

So she spoke the familiar words of the spell, never expecting to ever use it on herself, and waited, patiently watching the movements of the snails.

And eventually what had been meant to happen happened, and only a few minutes later each snail was sitting in one of the pentagram’s corners, leaving a line of thin slime behind them.

Zelda could not say that she was surprised, perhaps she had even known before. She returned the animals to the yard, watching them dig their way back into the earth.

Now she was already late for choir practice, probably making them wonder where she was. It did not matter, since they would start to talk about her sooner or later, anyway. She would not be able to keep her growing belly hidden for much longer, and then questions would surely arise. But that was something to worry for later.

 

Choir practice went relatively smoothly, they went through all the songs in time and even finished five minutes early, which was why Sabrina came up to her Aunt afterwards. “How did the blood test go?” she wanted to know.

“Everything is fine”, Zelda ensured her niece.

The teenager nodded slowly. “I will get to babysit him or her, right?”

Zelda almost had to laugh. Only Sabrina could ask a question at this point. “Of course you will”, she answered with a smile.

Her niece nodded. “Good.” She looked over to the clock for a moment. “I’m off to my next class, see you later Aunt Zee.”

She left the room and Zelda was alone with her thoughts, distracting herself by very slowly putting away the text books. Ever since arriving at the Academy this morning she had been debating with herself whether to tell Faustus right now or later, or even at all until they could determine it the medical way and not only with a spell.

Even the thought of another conversation with him made her anxious, her heartbeat suddenly beating really fast. The tension between them was impossible to ignore at this point, and she had no idea how to make him less upset with her. Telling him about the gender might improve things, but to do that she would have to go and talk to him first.

Ever since teleporting she was feeling horribly dizzy again, now even more so. She really had to stop teleporting, it really was not agreeing with her. She sat down for a moment, hoping the feeling would go away as usual. Perhaps she should have drunken more of Hilda’s tea, after all, she always said that it helped against all sort of pregnancy symptoms. She leaned her back against the wood of the bench, closing her eyes for a second to see if the spinning would stop. It did not, unfortunately.

Suddenly she heard a door being opened behind her, but turning around would have taken too much of her energy. She knew who it was, anyway, noticed his way of walking.

The High Priest stopped next to her, obviously not having expected to see her. “Zelda”, he greeted, voice cool and tense. “Don’t you have a Russian seminar to teach?”   
She had, actually, but standing up just seemed too much of a challenge right now. However it seemed better than explaining to him what was going on, since his worrying usually just made her feel even worse. “I’m on my way right now”, she responded, getting up and attempting her best to ignore the fact that everything was around her was moving.

“Are you alright?” he wanted to know, eyeing her carefully.

Zelda nodded, but only a second later everything around her went black, and the last thing she felt was herself falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter for today, i hope you'll like it <3


	7. Chapter 7

It was very bright around her when she opened her eyes, blinking a few times until she could see clearly again. Suddenly alarmed Zelda shot up, realizing that she was lying in a bed. The sheets were white, so was the bedding. Her head was hurting terribly, and she felt the same way she had felt the day after Queen Victoria’s coronation, when Hilda and her had gotten drunk on liquor the entirety of the night.

This time however she had neither been drinking nor partying, which was what made her wondering why she was in the state she was in. Was this the infirmary? She had never been there before, so she had no idea.

“Sister Zelda”, someone suddenly said, and another woman from the coven she knew from black mass came towards her. “Are you feeling better?”

In all honesty, Zelda had no idea how she felt. “Yes”, she said nonetheless. “What exactly happened?”

The woman smiled an understanding smile. “The stress from the pregnancy made you pass out, but don’t worry, everything is fine now.” She quickly glanced over to the door. “Father Blackwood brought you here. He is waiting outside.”

In Satan’s name, this was the last thing she needed. Did the entire coven know of her pregnancy know? Hopefully not. She ran a hand through her hair, thinking about what to do for another moment. “Call him in, if you may”, she eventually decided to say.

The woman nodded. “Of course, Sister Zelda. I’ll leave you alone.” She disappeared as quickly as she had came, while Zelda gave her best to sit up and straighten her hair. 

The last thing her nerves needed right now were Faustus freaking out about this. It was all fine, she got this. She just needed to eat a little more and drink some herbal tea, that would do the trick. _Or so she hoped._ Perhaps eliminating the stress source number one which was the High Priest pressuring her into a marriage would help, too.

He basically stormed into the room, throwing the door shut behind him so loudly that she was afraid it might break.

“In Satan’s name, Faustus, calm down-” she began, but never got to finish her sentence, since he silenced her with his lips on hers. They stayed in the kiss for a moment, his tongue flicking into her mouth.

Then she pulled back, as far as possible while still being seated. He really needed to stop throwing her off like this.

“What happened?” he wanted to know, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His face was still awfully close to hers.

Zelda cleared her throat. If only she knew. “It was nothing, really”, she attempted, not really knowing what else to say.

He stared at her in disbelief. “You just collapsed in front of me. I don’t believe that to be nothing!” There was a moment of silence. “It is my child too.”

“I remember”, she replied dryly, not wanting to meet his eyes. This was a horrible moment to tell him this most probably, but she felt like she should not wait any longer. “And a boy, too”, she added quietly.

Instantly, his face lightened up. “Are you certain?”

She nodded. “I am actually.”

Somehow she had half expected him to kiss her again, already bracing herself to break if off once more. But he only pressed his lips to her forehead lightly, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You need to take better care of yourself.”

It was true, of course, she really needed to change something about the way she was dealing with this pregnancy. “I am just tired”, she replied, which was not even a lie. The little faint had made her even more exhausted than before.

He frowned worriedly, examining her face. “That’s no surprise, you haven’t slept in Satan knows how long”, he noticed. “Have you tried using a spell?”   
  
She hadn’t actually, although the idea had indeed crossed her mind as well. But Zelda loved brushing everything off as fine until it was no longer possible to ignore, which it obviously was not, at this point. “I should perhaps”, she admitted, still partly distracted by him being so close to her. She could feel his breathing on her skin. It made her nervous, actually. Hopefully he could not tell.

“Better sooner than later”, he agreed, still frowning. “I want you to go home.”

She had already opened her mouth to protest, but he interrupted her before she could even say a word.

“Zelda, go home, please.” This time, his voice was much softer. “Do it for the baby.” He made a slight pause. “ _And for me_.”

Of course he was right, but she didn’t want him to be. “I-”, she stuttered, searching for the right words to defend herself.

Instead of waiting for her to finish he kissed her again, this time much more gentle. And just for a moment, she lost herself in the kiss. Forgot everything around her, every fear and regret she might have about this.

But as everything else in life it did not last, and she pulled back as soon as she came to her senses. _What was this man doing to her?_

He looked at her in confusion, obviously not quite understanding her mixed signals. Who could blame him, really. 

“I can not do this”, she tried to explain some of the confusion going on inside her head.

This time, she seemed to have genuinely hurt him. Or his pride, at least. “Fine”, he almost snapped at her, pulling back and taking a few steps back. His eyes rested on her for a few passing seconds, as if he was hesitating what to do. “But please do go home.” Without anything else, without ever looking back, he left, leaving her to herself.

She felt a silent tear running down her face, quickly wiping it away.

 

To her own despair she was still lightly crying when she arrived at the Spellman house, praying to Satan that no one would be home. Ambrose had been planning to go out with Luke today, Hilda should still be working at the book store and Sabrina… actually, she had no idea what her niece was up to today. Homework, hopefully.

She let the door fall shut behind herself silently, hanging her coat up and risking a quick look into the kitchen. It was empty, fortunately, meaning her sister was not home just yet. The last thing she needed was Hilda’s curiosity and her nagging questions about what was wrong.

Zelda was just on her way upstairs to lie down in her bedroom, when the front door was opened and Sabrina slipped inside, throwing her school bag on the floor and getting out of her coat. “Hey Aunty”, she greeted, but stopping instantly when she noticed Zelda’s tears. “Aunt Zee, are you crying?”

Quickly, Zelda wiped the tears from her eyes. “The hormones”, she said mildly.

The teenager followed her upstairs, eyeing her suspiciously. “You’re lying”, she noticed. “What did he do?”

Zelda swallowed hard. “Who, Sabrina?” She knew perfectly well who her niece was talking about, but buying a little time never hurt.

“Father Blackwood of course.” Sabrina bit her lip. “I can hex him, if you want. I have worked on my blood curses.”

Her Aunt could not help but let a little smile show on her face. “Thank you, Sabrina, but I can take care of myself.”

The teenager nodded slowly. “I know you can.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Zelda changed the topic, blinking a little to avoid new tears running down her cheeks. Those hormones really had gotten the better of her.

For a moment, Sabrina seemed to consider. “Uhm”, she muttered, frowning nervously. “Actually I promised Ross to come over tonight to study.”

Somehow, Zelda had the feeling that she was lying. When had her niece ever met any of her friend to _study?_ They were probably just going to the movies and eat popcorn, anyway. But she did not mind being alone for some time before Hilda returned and started bombing her with questions, and so she said nothing and let Sabrina go.

“Have fun”, she told her smiling. “Don’t be home too late”, she added, not to lose her authority entirely.

Her niece smiled back. “I won’t, I promise Aunt Zee.” She hurried out of the house again, leaving her school back lying on the floor of the hall.

Zelda shook her head and sighed, continuing her way upstairs. _Teenagers._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't properly proof-read this, so sorry if there are any mistakes. but i really wanted to upload two chapters today!


	8. Chapter 8

Naturally, Sabrina did not plan on studying with Roz, not even meeting her for that matter. Instead she hurried back to the Academy, walking the entire way through the Greendale Woods. She wouldn’t just sit by and watch her Auntie get hurt, no, she was going to take matters into her own hands. If her Aunt Zelda could not handle this herself, she would do it for her. It was as simple as that.

She made her way straight to Father Blackwood’s office, knocking on the door as loudly and angrily as she could.

“Come in”, the High Priest called from within, sounding just as annoyed as Sabrina felt.

Quickly she opened the door, walking inside. “Father Blackwood”, she greeted, voice coldly.

He looked at her in surprise for a moment, as if he had expected someone else. “Miss Spellman”, he replied dryly, obviously not too happy to see her. “What can I do for you?”

The door fell shut behind her, much more loudly than it should have. Sabrina crossed her arms. “Stop hurting my Aunt Zelda, for a start!”

His brows arched up. “I am afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Spellman.”

Honestly, he really seemed like he meant it. But Sabrina was sure something must have happened. She had barely ever seen her Aunt Zelda cry before. “I think you do”, she replied stubborn, not willing to let him slip away this easily. She had not walked the entire way to be brushed off.

“You are just as strenuous as your father used to be”, the High Priest mumbled, leaning back in his chair. “If you want me to give an answer, you will have to elaborate on the matter some more.”

Sabrina bit her lip, arms still crossed before her chest. “You made her cry today”, she said, with as much accusation in her tone as possible.

Again, Father Blackwood seemed genuinely surprised. Even a little guilty, Sabrina noticed. He ran a hand through his hair. “I did not mean to do that”, he responded, voice neutral, but still sort of apologizing. “I will speak to her tomorrow.”

This was not what Sabrina had come here to do, actually, but it was not bad for a start. “Why not today?” she followed up, not wanting to let go so easily.

“Miss Spellman, actually this is none of your business at all.”

Sabrina frowned. “It is, if you make my Aunt upset!” She eyed him carefully. “You care about her, right?” It was a stupid question, off-topic even, but she just really wanted to know what was going on between those two. And if Zelda would not tell her anything, she might as well ask the High Priest about it. She was not a child anymore, she knew very well that two people needed to have sex in order to make a baby, therefore something must be going on between him and her Aunt Zelda.

To her surprise, Father Blackwood sighed. “I do. Much more than she knows, for that matter.”

“Well, why don’t you just tell her then?” Sabrina returned the question, still much too curious to stop now. All she wanted was for her Aunt to be happy, even if that meant enduring Father Blackwood’s presence, and she might just as well help her a little on the way.

He appeared to be hesitating for a short moment. “I repeat, _actually_ this is none of your business, but-” he sighed again. “Whenever I want to tell her she cuts me off and runs away.”

To be honest, this sounded a lot like the Aunt Zelda Sabrina knew. She considered the words for a few seconds. “Maybe you just need to try a little harder. Like, give her some flowers. Everyone loves flowers.”

The High Priest raised an eyebrow. “Flowers?”

Sabrina nodded eagerly. Her Aunt always claimed to hate flowers, especially the ones Hilda planted in the yard, but everyone knew that she was just trying not to let her soft side show. And she would most probably love to receive some flowers from the High Priest, Sabrina knew she would.

“I’ll consider it”, Father Blackwood eventually replied, vaguely enough for Sabrina’s taste.

Nevertheless she felt like her job here was pretty much done, since it did not seem like he had done anything in particular to upset her Aunt. And she would probably be grounded if she tried using a blood curse on the High Priest of the Church of Night, which was why that idea did not seem too great after all.

Not sure what else there was to say, Sabrina simply nodded in response and then turned away to leave, just as his voice stopped her.

“Miss Spellman?”

She turned around again, waiting in the doorway. “Yes, Father Blackwood?”

There was something on his face she could not quite read. “You keep an eye on Zelda, right? That she takes care of herself.”

Sabrina couldn’t hide the little grin on her face. “You really love her, don’t you?” It had taken her super long to realize, but now it was quite obvious. How had she never noticed before? The look in his eyes said it all. She wondered if her Aunt knew.

The silence seemed to last an eternity, the High Priest considering his answer. Or perhaps he was just too afraid to say the words out loud. Eventually, he gave a slight nod. “I do.”

This was more than Sabrina had wished to hear, but she was glad that she had found out this particular information. Now all she needed to do was give her Aunt a little push in the right direction, and the magic would be done.

 

It was dark outside already when Sabrina returned home, and way past dinner time.   
  
Ambrose and Hilda had eaten with Zelda, all three of them sitting in the kitchen and her and Ambrose exchanging amused looks when Hilda chatted about her day at the book store, the clothes she was already knitting for the baby, the flowers she was going to plant in the garden, and the herbal tea she was going to cook for Zelda so that she could get a better sleep. After that her nephew talked about his date with Luke, how they had gotten lunch at this amazing place and gone apple picking after, on Sabrina’s recommendation.

At some point Hilda had mentioned the blood test, although Zelda had tried to ignore the topic the entire evening. “So, how many weeks are you in?” she wanted to know, looking over to her sister.   
Zelda shot Ambrose a warning look, who gave his best to keep a straight face. “Eleven weeks”, she replied, smiling a forced smile in Hilda’s direction.

Ambrose cleared his throat, nodding in agreement. “Definitely eleven weeks.” The sarcasm was not even tried to be well hidden.

Hilda looked from one to another for a moment, smiling uncertainly. “Alright”, she said, hesitating a little. “Great then.”

Zelda’s eyes pierced through her nephew, basically saying “another word and you are dead”. He seemed to have gotten the hint, since the rest of the dinner went without any comments from Ambrose’s side.

When Sabrina returned Zelda met her in the hall, watching her glide out of her coat. “You’re home late”, she noticed, eyeing her niece in suspicion.

The teenager grinned a little. “I had an interesting talk with someone.”

From the way her eyes sparkled, Zelda could already tell that this meant nothing good. “Sabrina, what did you do this time?” she asked, only half serious. In Satan’s name, what had she done to deserve this girl? She was all Edward, but worse.

Her niece bit her lip, still not able to hide the grin. “I saw that you were upset and I guessed that something must have happened between you and the High Priest, so I went to his office.”

 _For the love of Lucifer._ Zelda felt like she was about to have a mental breakdown. “You did _what_?” she asked very slowly, already preparing herself to yell at Sabrina.

The girl seemed to sense that, since she interrupted very quickly. “Don’t worry, Auntie, I promise I behaved. I resisted the urge to hex him!”

Zelda shook her head slowly, closing her eyes to mentally calm down a little. This family really was one hell of a challenge. “I’m glad you decided against harming _the High Priest of our entire coven_ ”, she replied pressed, not even finding enough energy to be mad anymore.

Her niece moved from one foot to the other, still grinning like a little girl. There was definitely something she had not told yet.

“What else, Sabrina?” Zelda asked, already expecting the worst. At this point, there was nothing she could not handle anymore. It was frankly impossible to get any worse than this.

However, somehow, Sabrina managed to take it to the next level. “He loves you, Aunt Zee. He told me.”

Zelda’s jaw dropped, staring at her niece in disbelief. “I’m sorry, what?” she replied, utterly startled. _Was this another joke which was on her?_

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Father Blackwood is in love with you.” She smiled. “I can’t believe you didn’t realize that yet.”

For the second time today, Zelda felt like fainting. She blinked a few times, trying to ignore the lump which formed in her throat. Her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

Her niece was still waiting for an answer, looking at her with expectant eyes. “Say something, Aunt Zelda!”

Zelda stroke a loose curl behind her ear, feeling her hand slightly trembling. “I’m sorry, Sabrina, I really need to lie down.”

The teenager sighed. “Auntie, you need to talk to him. Tell him how you feel!”

Honestly, she was really wondering where Sabrina’s sudden change of attitude towards Faustus came from. She had always loathed the High Priest. “I thought you did not even like him.”

Sabrina shrugged lightly. “If he makes you happy, I’ll see past that.”

She said this so softly that Zelda could not help it but feel her eyes watering. At this point, it did not even surprise her anymore. “That’s really sweet, Sabrina”, she whispered, blinking the tears away as well as possible. “But I don’t think I can tell him what he likes to hear.”

The teenager frowned. “I don’t believe you, Auntie. I think you’re lying to yourself about this.”

Actually Zelda had never imagined that she would hear things like this from her own niece, who obviously had more experience when it came to love and romance than she had herself. She wiped another quick tear away from her face, trying to regain herself.

Still, she was not entirely over the fact that Faustus Blackwood apparently _loved_ her. In all those centuries she had known him, love had never been the word she would have used to describe their relationship. But perhaps this was just her, he might have a different opinion on that matter. She had never asked, actually. Never dared to speak the question.

“Go see him”, Sabrina urged one more time, pulling Zelda into a quick hug.

The she left her Aunt alone in the hallway, with the decision she now had to make.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there's anything you want to see in the next chapter(s), leave it in the comments and i'll see what i can do <3


	9. Chapter 9

It was already past midnight when Zelda sat down on the stairs outside their front door, head resting on her hands while she was still thinking the entire situation through. So far she had not reached a decision, and she doubted she would. It was a whole mess, all of this.

First of all, she was not even certain if she could truly believe Faustus’ words. He had known her for centuries, longer than his wife even, and never said anything similar. Or given her the expression that there might be anything else between them than infatuation.

Except this one time. There had been one time where she really had felt different, one moment where even she might say perhaps had feeling for him. Sixteen years ago, to be exact.

On that rainy day in April, a man had knocked on the door to the Spellman house. She could still remember Hilda opening the door, calling her sister downstairs to join them in the kitchen. Even before she had heard Hilda’s voice, she had known that something was off. It had been no more than a wimp, a sharp feeling at the back of her head that there was something which had gone horribly wrong. Sabrina was peacefully sleeping, so she had left the girl upstairs when she joined her sister and the man.

Edward and Diana had left for Italy earlier, leaving their daughter with his sister’s. Diana had not been eager to part with the girl, even debated staying, but the conference was important and Edward needed his wife’s support.

And so the man had told them what had happened, how the plane had gone down somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea and was still to be recovered, how there were likely no survivors. How he was sorry what had happened, if he could do anything to help. Hilda had cried then, her sobbs echoing through the kitchen when the stranger had attempted to comfort her, offering to brew her a tea for her nerves.

Zelda had simply stared into the distance, thinking about the little girl which was now about to grow up without her parents. And about herself, who would now never again hear her brother’s voice. Or see his eyes light up with happiness, when he had one of his special ideas.

She had teleported out of the kitchen without ever saying something, right into Faustus’ office at the Academy. His wife could have been there, she could not care less. And he did not even seem surprised to see her, just greeted her with a look in his eyes that told her that he already knew. He had hated Edward at last, loathed him with all he had, but in that moment she could have sworn to see tears gleaming in his eyes. “I am so sorry”, he had told her, right before she had started to cry and sunken to the ground just in front of him.

Looking back now, she was still not sure why she had chosen to visit him in that very moment, which still to this day haunted her sometimes in her dreams. She had cried in his arms for who knew how long, not able to hold back the tears.

At some point she had pulled away, attempting to regain her self control. “You need to fly to Italy with me.” She had begged him to do it almost, sounding as pleading as she ever had. “We need to perform a resurrection. Bring Edward back!” It had been a naive plan, of course, looking back to it she saw that herself. The body had never been found, and a resurrection on someone who was buried somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea was just bound to fail. But doing nothing had felt even worse. “Please”, she had whispered, over and over again, when Faustus had tried to explain her how he could not do what she asked, how it would never work, how the coven forbid necromancy. "I'll do it on my own then", she had dared, although it was obvious that she could never perform a success ful resurrection all alone.

In the end she had understood, or just accepted her own uselessness, and just cried for another hour or two in silence.

Even thinking back to this day, Zelda could still feel the tears burning in her eyes. The day she had lost her brother was still the worst she had ever experienced, and she had never been entirely able to get over it. Partly also because she saw him in Sabrina so much.

She took a deep breath, leaning her head against the wooden banisters. Back then Faustus Blackwood had been the person she went to, although they had not spoken to each other before that occasion for at least a few months. She had returned from a trip to Russia right before Sabrina had been born, and the following half year where all the Spellman’s lived together had been distraction enough for her not to think about him. But in the moment of her greatest loss, she had gone to him. Without ever thinking about it. That had to mean something, or was this simply herself clinging to the past?

She was still too occupied with her thoughts to notice the person which walked up to the house, only looking up when the front gate squieked as it was opened.

Although the night was pitch black, barely a star to be seen, she knew who it was instantly. Quickly she brushed the tears away, getting up from where she was sitting. Almost out of a habit, she put a hand on her belly. It was harder to hide these days, even under her loose dresses. Soon enough everyone would be able to see. Zelda still had not decided if that made her more nervous or rather excited.

The High Priest stopped a few paces away from her, eyeing her from some distance. “I just came to check how you were doing”, he began, almost justifying his own visit.

What was she supposed to say to that? Gladly, he made that decision for her.

“And I brought you something.”

This time she frowned. What could he possibly bring her? The idea of gifting was not prominent in witch culture, also since there were no real holidays such as christmas or birthdays which were to be celebrated.

He stepped closer, and to her surprise, handed her a bunch of flowers. Red roses, to be exact. Now she really was speechless. “What are these for?” was all she was able to get out, carefully taking the flowers from him. Never in her life had she gotten flowers before, and Faustus Blackwood was the last person she had ever expected them from. _This was surely Sabrina’s doing._ The teenager simply loved involving herself in other people’s business. Another trait she inherited from her father.

“Your niece suggested I should try a little harder to win you over”, the High Priest replied, obviously just as unfamiliar with the situation as Zelda was. “And the woman in the flower shop told me everyone loved red roses.”

Zelda could not help but smile a little. This was actually sort of sweet. And definitely something she never would have expected. “Would you like to come in?” she suggested. “I believe these need to be put into water.”

He nodded, holding the door open for her and following her into the kitchen. The light went on as Zelda snipped her fingers, illuminating the before dark room.

It was a weird kind of silence between them, Zelda trying to keep busy with putting the flowers into a vase and filling it with water. But it took barely a minute, and then she was faced with what to say again.

Somehow, her thoughts took her back to the night she had remembered earlier. “Do you remember the night Edward died?” she asked into the silence, not even sure why. “How I wanted to resurrect him right away.” Thinking back, her naiveness was almost amusing.

“How could I forget”, he replied, something in his eyes that could even be a little guilt. “I would have done it for you. If it had been possible.”   
  
This was something she had always wondered, always debated in her head. Would he really have brought his biggest rival back to life? “Then you would not be High Priest today”, she replied, leaning backwards against the kitchen table. Her loss had been his gain, there was no reason in denying that. Perhaps that had always been something which had held her back, subconsciously. The way he had so eagerly slipped into Edward’s position, taken on the robes of High Priest like nothing. Just a day or two after the plane crash.

Faustus made a few steps towards her, now standing very close. “It would not have mattered”, he ensured her, and his eyes told her all the truth she needed to know. “I love you, Zelda. Always have.”

There they were, the words she had feared to hear. Coming directly from him, it was even worse than when Sabrina had told her. She shook her head. “And still you married Constance.” There it was, the little jealous pinch in her heart.

“Because you left. You went to Europe without a word!”, he justified himself.

Now they were back at accusing each other. “I didn’t owe you an explanation. Besides it I had no choice. Edward made me go”, she hissed back.

His eyes met hers for a moment, and there was silence. Eventually, he continued. “We both know that Edward could never _make_ you do anything.” It was a silent accusation. “Leaving was your choice, Zelda.”

She pressed her lips together, trying not to let her sudden insecurity show. He was right, of course. When her brother had sent her away she had neither protested nor ever tried to change his opinion, just simply nodded and agreed. Because she had been afraid. Afraid what might have happened if it continued, afraid that someday, she would be too deep into the relationship.

He shifted closer again, taking her face into his hands. “What are you so afraid of?”

There was nothing she could do to avoid the answer, an answer she did not even have herself. “I don’t know”, she whispered, trying her best to keep a steady voice.

He kissed her then, and it felt as if his lips erased all the doubts from her mind. His tongue flicked into her mouth, teeth softly digging into her bottom lip.

Suddenly a sound distorted the silence. “Oh”, a voice said from the other end of the room, and Zelda shrieked back immediately.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Ambrose could not keep the wicked grin hidden, when he walked into the kitchen as if it was the most normal thing ever. “Just thirsty”, he explained, stopping at the sink and filling a glass with water, taking all the time in the world. He was trying to drive his Aunt crazy, obviously.

Zelda shot him a deadly look, some which said “leave now or I’ll make sure you do permanently”, and he seemed to take the hint.

“Good night, Auntie Zee”, he said with a smugly smile. “Father Blackwood.” He turned around to leave then, not without looking back once more to wink at his Aunt in amusement.

She was pretty much certain that her nephew was on his way up to Sabrina’s room right now to tell her, and by tomorrow the entire household would know.

The High Priest cleared his throat, moving back ever so slightly. “I should take my leave now. It is late.”

Zelda nodded. “I think that is best.” Internally, she reminded herself to never ever have a make out session in the middle of her kitchen again. Nothing ever stayed private in this house.

She accompanied him to the door, not sure what else there was to do. The conversation had not really made anything any more clear, Zelda still had no idea what _this_ was.

He kissed her again at the door, a light brush of his lips against hers. Then he planted another kiss on her forehead. “I see you tomorrow.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Try to get some sleep, will you?”

She simply nodded, watching him leave and close the door behind himself.

It was a strange atmosphere in the empty room, when she returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Her eyes rested on the roses which sat on the counter, their sweet scent filling the room. She rested a hand on her belly, wondering if the little creature inside her had any idea what was going on around him. Most likely not. Better for him. Life started to get complicated early enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there's anything you want to see next, let me know <3


	10. Chapter 10

Zelda was the last one to appear for breakfast the next morning, since she had spent a good twenty minutes after getting up with throwing up everything she might have had in her stomach. If she was honest, this pregnancy was really tearing at her nerves.

“Good morning Auntie Zee”, Ambrose greeted her, with a wide grin on his face. “Had a good night’s sleep?”  
  
She rolled her eyes at him, sitting down at the other end of the table and opening her paper.

“Tea?” Hilda asked, already pouring her a cup. “It’s good for the baby!”

Sabrina already leaned forward in her chair, biting her lip in excitement. “Why did Father Blackwood stop by yesterday?”

Zelda’s eyes travelled over to Ambrose, who gave an apologetic shrug. Attempting to buy some time, she sipped on her tea. _In Satan’s name, was there anyone her nephew had not told yet?_ “He was just… bringing some flowers”, she chose to reply, not really knowing what else to say.

“Flowers?” Hilda repeated. “That doesn’t sound very much like him.”

Zelda gave her an annoyed look, putting her cup down loudly. She was hoping to end the conversation at this point.

Sabrina on the other hand seemed utterly excited her plan had went down so well. “And then? What else?” she followed up, eyeing her Aunt carefully.

“Nothing _else”_ , Zelda replied dryly, hiding behind her paper. It really was too early in the morning to have such a conversation today.

Ambrose chuckled at the words. “Other than a little make out session in the middle of the kitchen”, he mumbled under his breath, but still loud enough for everyone in the kitchen to hear.

“Shut up, Ambrose”, Zelda hissed, taking a quick look at the clock. “Sabrina, why aren’t you on your way to school?” She gave her nephew a firm look. “And Ambrose, don’t you have some bodies to dissect?”

Her niece sighed. “On my way already, Aunt Zelda.” She pushed back her chair and got up, reaching for an apple to take it with her. “See you at the Academy later.”

Ambrose followed her example, still grinning from ear to ear. “Next time you invite the High Priest over maybe consider to enchant the door locks beforehand!” he continued to tease her, still laughing.

She was half tempted to throw something at him, but he fled the kitchen before she could do anything of the sorts.

Hilda poured her another cup of tea, pushing the cup over to her sister. “Drink, Zelds, it calms the nerves.”

“My nerves are perfectly fine, Hilda”, she snapped back, still taking a large sip of the tea.

Her sister giggled a little. “Although you have to admit Ambrose walking in on you and Father Blackwood is sort of amusing.”

Zelda gave her an annoyed look. “I don’t see why”, she responded dryly. “It’s even worse than when you kept walking into my room at the Academy without knocking first.” In all honesty, her sister interrupting her and Faustus back then had not been half as embarrassing as her nephew walking in on them.

Hilda shrugged. “Well, if you don’t lock the door.” She stirred inside her tea cup. “Nothing in this house ever stays private, anyway.”

Unfortunately, this was very true.  
  
Zelda put down the paper, suddenly very hungry. She got up from her chair and walked over to one of the kitchen counter, searching for what she was looking for.

“Since when do you like peanut butter?” her sister asked as soon as Zelda had sat down again, now eating peanut butter straight from the glass.

She shrugged. “Obviously I do now.” It was actually much too sweet for her taste, usually, but today she was sort of feeling it. Now she was beginning to become weird, how great.

Hilda sipped on her tea slowly. “Have you thought about a baby name yet?”

Actually, Zelda had begun to consider names, ever since she had left her first trimester. During that time she had always tried to be more neutral about the whole thing, in case something might happen, so that she would not be too distressed. But by now the pregnancy was pretty much safe, and so she had started to think about what names she would like. Honestly, there was only one name she was really considering, but convincing Faustus to agree would be the harder part of it.

“And you need to tell me if it’s a little boy or girl at some point, so that I can start to knit some clothes in the right colour”, Hilda added, already sounding much too excited for her sister’s taste.  
  
Although even Zelda had to admit that baby clothes were quite cute, and she was sort of looking forward to that stage of the pregnancy were she could start to buy clothes. She played with the spoon in her hand for a moment, wiping of some excess peanut butter at the edge of the glass. “It’s a boy. I cast a spell to find out.”

Her sister smiled softly. “Really? That’s great, Zelds.”

Zelda considered her next words for a moment, debating whether she should tell her sister or not. After all, this was still a plan in the making. “I would like to call him Edward, actually”, she finally said, voice very quiet.

For a moment she even feared her sister had not understood, but then Hilda started sobbing.

“In Satan’s name”, Zelda hissed, quickly eating another spoon of peanut butter to perhaps somehow stop her own emotions from getting a hold of her. “Stop crying, Hilda!” Seeing other people cry just made her own eyes water these days, and she was not down to that this morning.

Her sister sniffed. “I’m sorry, it’s just-” her voice broke, as she sniffed again. “I wish he could be hear to see this, you know. You becoming a mum.”

In all honesty, their brother would probably not like any of this at all. Even without considering that he hated Faustus Blackwood, Edward had never liked the thought of of his little sister’s with any guy. He did not need to worry about that with Hilda, much to his liking, but Zelda had never really listened to her brother’s wishes. More so made fun of disrespecting them. Repeatedly,

“He would probably just send me away to Europe again”, she replied dryly, watching Hilda reach for a tissue and dry her eyes. Why did her sister always have to be so dramatic? She was not the one with the pregnancy hormones after all.

“He’d be delighted”, Hilda disagreed, still sniffing lightly. “I just wish he were here.”

So did Zelda, actually, every minute of every day. Which was why she wanted her baby to wear her brother’s name. She ate another spoon of peanut butter, the sweet taste making her feel better. Now she just needed to convince the High Priest.

 

The morning went by rather fast, Zelda teaching her Russion seminar for a good two hours and then having a short session of choir practice afterwards. It was barely midday when she knocked at the High Priest’s door, with the strict plan of wanting to speak with him about the name. She was certain she would find a way to convince him, however that might look like.

“Come in”, Faustus called from the inside, standing next to his bookshelf as she entered the room. “Zelda”, he greeted, watching as she closed the door behind her. “How are you feeling today?”

She smiled politely and remained standing in the middle of the room. “I’m quite alright. The morning sickness is beginning to wash off, I hope.”

He nodded. “Good.”

Nervously, she took a deep breath. “There is a topic I would like to discuss with you.”  
  
The words made him turn her attention towards her, putting the book down which he had just picked up from the shelf. “Alright”, he responded, leaning backwards against his desk. “What is it?”

“The baby’s name”, she cut it right to the point, not wanting to speak around it for too long. “I believe now is the right time to start considering this.”

Again, he just nodded in agreement.

She wondered if this attitude might hold on for much longer. Not knowing what else to do with herself, she started wringing her hands nervously. “I-” she cleared her throat. “would like to name him Edward.”

It was a bold statement to make, just like that, and for a moment Faustus looked at her as if he was thinking he might have not understood correctly. But she was very serious, and he seemed to realize that after a few seconds. Then his expression changed into something else entirely, although he still did not give an answer.

It took him quite some time to regain his voice. “Edward”, he eventually repeated, almost making a pained expression. “You’re asking a lot from me right now, Zelda.”

She knew that, of course she did. But this was her baby first and foremost, she was the one carrying it around in her womb. Besides the High Priest also knew that once she had fixed herself on something, it was next to impossible to change her mind.

As she did not give an answer, he sighed. “Under one condition.”

Instantly, Zelda knew that _this_ could not mean anything good for her. Still, she replied. “Which condition, then?” It was worth a shot, at least.

A smile formed on his lips. “Become my wife.”

The moment he said it, she knew she should have expected it. “No”, was her instant response, perhaps a little too instant. He could not be serious with this right now.

To him, it even appeared to be amusing. “It’s called a compromise, Zelda.”

“No, it’s called blackmail”, she disagreed, crossing her arms to stop herself from trembling. This was all too much for her nerves.

His eyes pinned her down for a moment, just watching her shift under his glance. It was horrible how nervous he could make her if he wished to.

Eventually, he took a few steps towards her. “I agree to the name and you think about the marriage”, he offered, his voice much more gentle this time.

This time he really surprised Zelda, with how quickly she had been able to change his mind. Was he really just giving up? Perhaps she was even a little disappointed. If he really wished to marry her, would he not have tried harder to convince her? Suddenly she felt upset, not even knowing why. Maybe she had liked the thought of a marriage more than actually intended.

“Alright”, Zelda eventually responded, trying to keep a neutral tone. “That matter is settled, then.” She was much less happy about getting the name she wanted agreed to than she should have been, or had expected to be.

Faustus raised an eyebrow at her, probably wondering about her sudden change in attitude. “Why are you upset now?” he wanted to know, trying to read her face. “You have what you wanted.”  
  
_But did she?_ “I’m not upset”, she defended herself, taking a few steps away to restore some space between them. It was a lie, obviously, and she heard that herself.

The High Priest sighed, by now on the bridge to sounding annoyed. “I don’t understand you, Zelda.” He shook his head. “Maybe that has always been the problem.”

She pressed her lips together, trying not to let her emotions show. Those words actually had hurt her quite a bit. “Maybe”, she replied, her voice just on the verge of breaking.

He nodded slowly. “Appears like I just have to live with the fact that you do not wish to be my wife. Now or ever.”  
  
It sounded awfully final, and she was half-tempted to disagree. But she never did, naturally. 

There was a silence following, none of the two quite knowing what to say. At some point, Faustus looked at his watch. “I have a seminar in ten minutes.”

“Of course”, Zelda replied. “I’m on my way.”

She was already half turning around, when he reached for her wrist and held her back.

“Are you sleeping better?” he wanted to know, never letting go of her, but instead now holding her hand in his.

She considered lying, just for the sake of it. “No”, was her final answer.

Last night she had gotten a few hours of decent sleep, but only after practically drowning herself in Hilda’s so-called ‘have a good night tea’, which tasted even worse than her rather infamous ‘get well soon tea’. At some point in her life, Sabrina had been afraid to tell her Aunties that she was feeling sick or unwell just to avoid having to drink Hilda’s tea. Zelda could not even blame her.

Faustus seemed to have expected this answer from her, or at least he did not seem surprised. “Then I assume I’ll see you tonight.”

Honestly she was not in the mood for that at all, still she simply nodded. The thought of not being with him distressed her even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i always read all your comments under this and they make me so happy, please keep commenting and telling me what you think / want to see happen next <3


	11. Chapter 11

To Zelda’s surprise the High Priest was not working as usual when she came this night, but rather already awaiting her. “What is this?” she wanted to know, when he stopped in front of her and reached for her hand. At this point, she seriously needed to expect the worst.

“Trust me”, was all he had to say, which was easier said than done.

Still, she never moved.

He teleported them out of the office then, and only a second later they were somewhere in the woods. Around them the trees were whistling, and the chilly air was making Zelda shiver. She felt dizzy due to the sudden change of location, having avoided teleporting the last few days, and it got to the point where she needed to lean against Faustus to steady herself.

“Teleporting is not agreeing with me lately”, she provided a rushed explanation, already moving backwards to get some space, since she didn't want him to think something was not alright.

He eyed her in concern, but never said anything.

Only now Zelda realized where they were, a place she had only been twice before. The first time at the day of the Blackwood wedding, when she had come here with Edward, walking through the woods and wondering why in Satan’s name she had even agreed to come. And then many years later, when Constance had invited her over to supper as she was already pregnant.

The Blackwood residence still looked the same at first glance, but as Zelda looked at it longer the more she felt like something subtle had changed. “Did you renovate?” she asked into the silence, although she felt like this was a stupid thing to say.

“I did, after Constance’s passing.” He said it like the most normal thing in the world. “I like a darker type of wood.”

Zelda blinked a few times, wondering why they were now discussion types of woods. And why he had brought her here in the first place. Not that he had ever done it before. “Great”, she replied, only mildly interested in the whole conversation. She was just really tired.

They walked up to the front door in silence, Zelda looking around her through the empty garden. There were no flowers, no nothing. Just dry, empty soil. At the back of her mind she was wondering what spell to use to make the soil fertile again. Hilda did it in their own garden a couple times every year, whenever the flowers were beginning to dry up.

He held the door open for her and she entered the half-familiar hall, which still looked really strange in her eyes. The walls and ceiling were completely renovated, the former lighter wood replaced with heavy African rosewood, which made the entire place seem utterly dark. For some reason, Zelda liked it.

She walked into the kitchen and then into the living room, looking around with an odd sense of uncertainty.  _What was she doing here?_ This was not her place at all, being at the house of the High Priest. At some point she felt too awkward standing and just said down at the sofa, which was dark leather and actually tied in perfectly with the rest of the place. She wondered who had chosen all the furniture.

As if he was reading her mind, Faustus, who was standing in the doorway, replied. “My estate agent did the decorating. I wanted to sell the place, but she convinced me to renovate instead.”

 _She._ Was it stupid that Zelda felt a little hint of jealousy at the sound of that? She pressed her lips together, running her fingers over the soft leather. On the other hand it was really strange to think of the High Priest actually renovating a house, picking a style of wood and choosing furniture. It was so weirdly mortal, in a way.

The more time passed, the more tired Zelda felt. It was after midnight already, and by now she might as well fall asleep on the spot.

For some reason Faustus seemed to have sensed it, since he left his position leaned against the door frame and walked towards her. “Lay down”, he told her, kneeling down in front of the sofa. “You need to rest.” It was a suggestion rather than a command, but his voice was firm. 

She silently debated whether to argue or not, but then just did what he asked since she was much too tired, anyway. Starting a lenghthy discussion seemed much too time consuming. And so she just laid down on the cool leather in silence, although she knew that falling asleep here would be even more impossible than at her own house.

He then took her hand in his, the touch almost making her shiver since it was so unexpected. Hopefully he had not noticed. Very slowly, he began to speak the words of a spell, a spell which was not unknown to Zelda actually.

She had used it on Sabrina in the past, back when her niece had still been a little baby and suffered from sleeping problems due to her first teeth. It was a rather complex spell, and one was not able to use it on themselves, otherwise Zelda would have done so weeks ago.

So although this was one of the strangest moments she had ever experienced, she felt a certain safety. And comfort.

It took only seconds until she drifted into sleep, wondering to herself why she was always to proud to ask for help.

 

Zelda was woken by soft sun rays falling on her face, blinding her as she slowly opened her eyes. To her own surprise, she was no longer lying on the leather couch in the living room, but in a king size bed in another room entirely, which appeared to be the bedroom. The sheets were all black silk, and as soft as one could imagine.

She sat up in confusion, trying to order her thoughts for a moment. Actually, she felt quite rested for once. The night of sleep really seemed to have done her good. But there was still the question to why she was in the, probably upstairs, bedroom by now. She was really hoping Faustus had teleported and not carried her upstairs. Not that she would ever dare to ask.

The other side of the bed was empty, the sheets not even a slight bit tangled, which indicated that she had been sleeping alone. Perhaps he had another bedroom, she couldn’t be sure.

Apart from the huge bed the room was utterly empty, all white walls and dark wooden floor. She wondered if he spent much time in this house at all, judging by the fact that he barely ever was not at the Academy. Probably not.

Slowly she got up, a quick look at the clock telling her it was almost 7am. She would be missing breakfast today, that was for sure. But perhaps Sabrina would forgive her this time, since all of this was her doing, anyway.

Zelda left the room and stepped into the outside hallway, which lead to the stairs which went downstairs. There was no sound audible, the entire house seeming utterly quiet. Was he even still there? Or had he just left her alone to sleep?

She walked through almost every room downstairs, from the kitchen to the living room, which were all silent and abandoned. Apart from a little note on the table, which said nothing more but  _‘I’ll be back in an hour. Don’t leave’_  in his handwriting. It was actually quite amusing, since leaving had been exactly what she had actually been meaning to do. He knew her too well, after all. Sometimes that scared her a little. How well he was able to read her mind, knowing what she was about to do. 

So instead of leaving she walked out into the garden, standing in the middle of the empty land and listening to the sound of the woods for a little while. It was calming, in a way. The air was cool and clear, a little frost lying on the branches of the trees. It was almost winter by now. 

After some time she kneeled down onto the earth, letting some of it run through her hands while she tried a small spell Hilda had once used on one of her rose bushes. Below her fingers, the earth stopped crumbling, now much more wet and fertile. Little green seeds pushed through, transforming themselves into flowers in front of her eyes. And there it was, her own small bush of red roses just in the middle of the High Priest’s garden.

“I’ve never quite gotten this spell to work”, a voice suddenly said behind her, making her shriek quite a bit.

Faustus was standing there, and she instantly wondered for how long he had been watching her. She quickly stood up, giving the roses one last look. “A garden should have some flowers”, she simply said, eyes now inspecting the bag he was carrying with him.

Again, he appeared to be reading her mind. “I didn’t know what you wanted for breakfast”, he explained, which was a confusing statement all in itself.

Zelda looked at him quite startled, not even knowing what to respond. He was not seriously expecting her to have  _breakfast_ with him? Was this like a date? She remembered Sabrina having breakfast with Harvey once, at some place in town. Her niece had called that a date, at the time.

“We should go inside”, the High Priest interrupted her thoughts, already making his way towards the door.

Zelda was still really confused, but she followed him inside nevertheless.

Back in the kitchen, she leaned against one of the kitchen counters, looking around carefully. What else was there to do, really? She watched him unpack the food, which was more than one person could eat in a week. Actually, this was sort of sweet. So much she had to admit.

They ate almost entirely in silence, Zelda trying her best not to look up from her food to avoid any awkward situations. She really did not know how to act in front of him. The fact that she had stayed at his house was strange in itself, but eating breakfast with the High Priest even more so.

At some point, Faustus decided to break the silence. “So”, he began, waiting whether he would get Zelda’s attention or not. “About our son’s name.”

She looked up from the egg she was just peeling, half expecting him to start a discussion about it. “What about it?”

He leaned back in his chair, watching her for a moment. “His name is Edward, if that is your wish.”

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow. There had to be a downside to this. “Under which condition?” she returned the question, since this could never be his final answer.

“No condition.” His eyes were still resting on her. “Just me wanting to make you happy.”

She could not help the little smile which formed on her lips at the words. This was not at all the Faustus Blackwood she knew, or perhaps  _had known._ He seemed to be really trying to get her. She wondered if Sabrina had said anything about that to him as well.

“Thank you”, she replied quietly, not knowing what else to say. This actually meant a lot to her, but she was attempting not to let it show. She didn’t want him to know how much he had just impressed her.

He could chase her for a little longer, Zelda had decided. Because she was starting to really enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for the late upload, this took me ages to write... as always, please let me know what you think or want to see next <3


	12. Chapter 12

It was already after 9am when Zelda walked through the yard up to the Spellman house, praying to Satan that no one was at home. She really could do without the presence of any family member right now.

Vinegar Tom ran up to her as she opened the front gate, running around her legs until she knelt down to pet him. Perhaps she should have told him for how long she would be gone, he seemed to have been worried.

To her great distress Ambrose was sitting on the outside stairs, laptop on his knees and typing something. “Auntie Zee”, he greeted as she came nearer, closing the computer. He was already grinning wickedly, his eyes sparkling with obvious amusement. “Walk of shame huh?” he teased her, instantly noticing that she was in fact still wearing the exact same clothes as the day before. It was not too hard to guess what she had been up to, actually. 

Zelda rolled her eyes at him, stopping a few paces away. “Don’t you have autopsies to run?”

Her nephew grinned. “Actually I don’t. Waiting for some new bodies to arrive later today.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “What about you? We missed you at breakfast.”

“I had work to do”, she lied, not that she cared about Ambrose knowing too much, but simply because explaining what had happened last night and this morning would be too complicated.

“Work”, her nephew repeated. “Was Father Blackwood present, too?”  
  
He was mocking her, obviously, and it was working rather well. She had to stop herself from blushing. “I need to be at the Academy”, she tried to talk her way out of it, which was not even a lie, after all. Her seminar was starting in barely an hour, and she had to get changed beforehand.

Ambrose watched her climb up the stairs, turning around. “Everyone knows you’re screwing the High Priest anyway, Auntie Zee, why don’t you just admit it?” He was still grinning. “And it’s fine. Sabrina has Harvey, I have Luke, Aunt Hilda has-” he shrugged. “her spiders, I suppose, and you just happen to be with the High Priest.” He said it like it was the easiest, most obvious thing in the world. And it did not even sound jokingly anymore. He meant it.

She stopped in front of the door, turning around to face her nephew. “It’s not like that, Ambrose.” It was the only the truth. She was surely not _dating_ Faustus Blackwood.

Her nephew eyed her for a moment, trying to read her expression. “Then why not, Auntie Zee?” he asked, having come to the conclusion that she was being serious.

Zelda took a deep breath. “That’s none of your concern.” She was not going to discuss this topic with her nephew, so much she knew.

Ambrose sighed. “You can’t hide your pregnancy much longer, Auntie Zee. You’re fourteen weeks in. What are you going to tell the coven?”  
  
Actually, this was something she had yet to discuss with Faustus. She had avoided the topic until now, but Ambrose was of course right, people would start to notice soon. And then there would be questions, questions she had no answer to. “We haven’t quite… settled that matter yet”, she replied vaguely, hoping that Ambrose would get the hint.

Indeed, he turned back around to his laptop. “Whatever makes you happy”, he muttered, half to himself, but loud enough for Zelda to understand.

She smiled slightly, opening the door and slipping into the house.  
  
Tom ran up behind her, following her into the kitchen. He was being quite affectionate today, something she did not usually know from her familiar. “Is something wrong?” she wanted to know, but he only looked at her from big brown eyes and licked her hand when she started to pet him. And so she just shrugged it off, making her way upstairs to get changed.

 

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, Zelda being busy with her seminars and choir practice, so that she did not even have a chance to think about anything else but her work. Sabrina had not been too pleased about her missing breakfast, especially not when her Aunt refused to tell her where she had been. In the end the teenager made her promise to be home in time for dinner, and even offered a half-hearted “Father Blackwood can come too, if he wants”, which Zelda immediately brushed off. _That_ would definitely not happen anytime soon.

She did not actually get a chance to speak to Faustus until already late in the afternoon, which already stressed her out since she needed to make it home in time to avoid offending Sabrina.

“Are you feeling better today?” the High Priest wanted to know when she was sitting in his office, nervously playing with the end of her dress. “No more sickness or fainting?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine”, she ensured him. The faint had actually disappeared entirely, unless she teleported. Which was why she had taken the car to the Academy this morning.

However, this was not what she had come to talk about. “I won’t be able to hide the pregnancy any longer”, she cut it straight to the point, not even wanting to bother talking around it. She just wanted to know what she was supposed to tell everyone.

“So?” was all he answered, looking at her as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

That reaction was not at all what she had expected it to be, and it had not made things any clearer, either. “People will ask questions”, she added, trying to make him understand that this was a serious issue they were facing. How could she explain to anyone that she was expecting a child from the High Priest?

Obviously, he did not share her doubts. “Then tell them the truth.” He seemed entirely unbothered. “No need to hide it.”

Although he was not indeed married anymore, it usually was _not_ custom to sleep with the High Priest and then even be stupid enough go get themselves pregnant. Witches had enough ways to prevent that from happening, usually. She just had not been prepared that specific night. And to be precise, since she had refused his proposal, the child was not legitimate. So actually, there were plenty of reasons to hide it.

“So you’re planning to make him your official son and heir, then?” Originally she had not been wanting to ask so directly, but this was her child, too, and she wanted to know what was going to happen to him.

Faustus’ eyes caught hers for a moment. “I’m still hoping you might agree to becoming my wife”, he replied, almost like he was trying to push her buttons. “But yes, I am planning that.”

She pressed her lips together, looking down at her hands. Honestly she was half-tempted to agree every time he brought the marriage topic up, but she never dared to say so. “What about Prudence?” she asked instead. “She is your daughter as well.”

The High Priest shrugged. “She’s not legitimate. And a girl, for that matter. She will be no threat to Edward.”

Hearing him say the name out loud, just like that, actually made Zelda feel sort of warm inside. Which she did not particularly like, to be honest. She didn’t like that be was beginning to have an influence on her, that all the wooing and trying to convince her which she had shrugged off in the beginning now really seemed to have an impact on her. _She didn’t want to fall in love._ Love had never been something she craved or wanted, she had always been more than satisfied with lust, infatuation at the most.

But this baby which was growing inside her had changed her priorities, and herself, too. And this was also who she liked to blame her next action on, on her son and on the pregnancy hormones which had obviously replaced her brain.

“About the marriage”, she began, not even sure why she was returning to that topic now.

Immediately, she had his attention.

“Maybe it would be best for the baby if we did indeed marry.” The words had left her mouth before she could realize what she had just said. _In Satan’s name, this baby was stealing her brain_.

Faustus seemed entirely startled, not even reacting properly for a few seconds. Who could blame him, considering the impulsiveness which had been behind Zelda’s decision.

She instantly regretted even having said anything, getting up from the sofa since she didn’t know what else to do. Where had her mind gone?

“Is this a yes?” He seemed to have regained his voice, but was still sounding sort of shocked. Taken by surprise, very obviously.

But before she could say anything else, talk herself out of it, blame her hormones on how volatile she had become, he kissed her. And if she was really honest, that kiss sort of erased every question or doubt she might have still had.

Afterwards there was not much else to say, he placed another kiss on her forehead, but obviously didn’t want to scare her off again since he held back with any further questions.

Although she had blamed her sudden change of attitude solely on the baby becoming truly legitimate, arguing that it would avoid questions and raised eyebrows, she had a feeling that actually he knew what had been her true motive. Which wasn’t at all that, although it was a pleasant side effect.

No, deep inside even Zelda knew why she had agreed. Because she felt something here, had so for years, perhaps ever since they first met. In the past she had always chosen the easy way and ran off, but now there was a baby on the way and there was no running anymore. And it actually made her feel sort of good.

The only thing which still made her anxious was how she was going to tell her family. Because that would prove to be another challenge, entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you all like this chapter, please tell me what you think of it <3 as always, if you have any ideas / inspiration for the story, let me know!


	13. Chapter 13

Zelda made it home just in time for dinner, entering the house just as Hilda called Sabrina and Ambrose to dinner. She quickly entered the kitchen, trying to cover up the fact that she was, once again, late.

“Oh, Zelds, you’re home”, her sister noted with a smile, putting a large pot of soup on the table.

Just in that moment Sabrina entered the kitchen. “Aunt Zelda, you’re here”, she stated the obvious, sitting down with a pleasant smile.

Honestly, Zelda did not quite get why that fact was such a surprise to everyone, but she simply chose to ignore it. “Where is Ambrose?” she asked instead, since her nephew still had not shown up.

“Right here, Auntie Zee”, he replied, just walking into the room. “Sorry, I was on the phone with Luke.” His boyfriend had been on a mission for the Church in Canada for the past month, causing the two of them to have hour long phone calls every day. As a result, Zelda had not been the only one missing breakfast or dinner recently.

Hilda sat down as well now, smiling at everyone. “I’m glad we’re all together now!”   
  
Zelda rolled her eyes at her, since she was acting like they hadn’t seen each other for years. There was still plenty of time spent together, they didn't need to be glued together any second of the day. That might have been amusing when Sabrina had been a baby, but now she was a grown up and it was time to let go. 

“How was the Academy today, love?” Hilda now wanted to know from her niece, who was stirring around in her soup.

The girl shrugged. “It was fine. I had a two hour seminar of Herbiology today, that was kinda boring.” She looked over to Zelda. “I don’t even want to take this class, why does Father Blackwood make me do it?”

It was not the first time the topic had come up, and Sabrina had always tried to somehow talk her way out of it. “Everyone at the Academy has to take this seminar”, Zelda repeated, the same thing she had told her niece a thousand times. “You don’t get any special treatment.”

“It can be fun, love, you just need to go into it with a little more enthusiasm!" Hilda offered. “I always loved Herbiology.”

Sabrina only pouted at that, continuing to eat in silence for a moment. “Can’t you talk to him?” she tried again, as stubborn as she always was. “He’ll listen to you!”  
  
First of all, Faustus was most definitely not going to change the rules for Sabrina, again, even not if Zelda asked him. Besides, her niece had to learn that sometimes things did not go her way.

“No”, she replied firmly, trying to signal that this was the end of the discussion. “You will take the class just as everyone else.”

The teenager sighed. “Fine”, she hissed, half annoyed.

Was this a good time to address the marriage question? Probably not, but she was also afraid that Faustus might go ahead and make it public, it did not seem to unlikely, and her family would find out from him. Which would be even worse then telling them herself. She could not consider Sabrina’s teenage mood swings in that matter.

“So”, Zelda began, trying to capture everyone’s attention. “There is a matter I’d like to discuss.”   
  
Ambrose exchanged a quick look with Sabrina, barely noticeable.

Hilda looked up from her plate. “Alright, what is it?” she asked, in her usual soft voice.

Nervously, Zelda took a deep breath. This was proving to be more stressful than she would have thought. What was she even supposed to say? _I’m going to be the next Lady Blackwood, but only to make my son legitimate, and perhaps also partly because I might have developed some feelings for the High Priest?_ No, definitely not an option. Instead, she chose something much more simple. “The High Priest proposed to me.”

Sabrina dropped her spoon at the words, the rattling echoing through the silent kitchen. Hilda opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.

And Ambrose was just smirking, leaning back in his chair. “Well then I suppose congrats are in order, Auntie Zee”, he said into the silence, looking over to Sabrina.

The teenager was still starring at her Aunt as if she had grown a second head.

Zelda was looking over to her sister, wishing for her to say something to diffuse the situation.

But Hilda seemed just as startled as everyone else. “I, I didn’t think you wanted to marry”, she finally said, mindlessly stirring around in her soup. By now it was sure to be cold.

“Especially not _the High Priest_ ”, Sabrina interfered, looking awfully concerned. “I mean, this is all moving really fast!”

She looked over to her cousin for help, but Ambrose was just shrugging her concerns off. “I think Zelda Blackwood has a nice ring to it.”

In the meantime, Hilda seemed to have regained her composure. “Well, as long as you’re happy we’re happy.” She shot Sabrina a warning look, but her nice ignored it blatantly.

“Are you really in love with him, Aunt Zelda?” she wanted to know, still frowning deeply. “Because you told me you weren’t just a few days ago!”

Zelda shifted uncomfortably in her chair, not quite knowing what the proper answer to that question was.

“Or are you just doing it because of the baby?” The teenager continued, obviously with no intention to let the topic go.

Ambrose was sighing quietly, still smirking in amusement.

Hilda was looking just as uncomfortable as Zelda felt, still clenching her fingers around the metal spoon as if that would make things any better.

“His name is Edward”, Zelda simply replied, ignoring Sabrina’s entire question.

But her niece’s face changed at the words. “The baby’s?” she followed up, suddenly sounding a lot more excited.

Zelda nodded, hoping that this would make Sabrina look a little more positive on the entire thing. She really wanted her to be fine with this.

The teenager bit her lip. “I thought Father Blackwood didn’t like my father. Why would he agree to the name?”

“Because it was my wish”, her Aunt responded mildly, feeling like the worst part of the conversation might be over by now. Or hoped so, at least.

Very slowly, Sabrina seemed to understand. Her expression changed to something else entirely. “Well”, she began. “Perhaps he’s not as bad as I thought.” She seemed to consider it for a moment. “Even though I didn’t think you would go ahead and marry him on the spot when I told him to try a little harder to get you.”

Ambrose chuckled, raising his eyebrows at his cousin. “You said _that_   to the High Priest?”

Sabrina shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?” She was still eyeing her Aunt carefully. “But you’re not going to move out, are you, Aunt Zelda?”

Zelda sighed. “No, Sabrina. I won’t.” Sometimes she forgot how her niece was still a little girl. And she saw her as a daughter, too, after all. She wouldn’t just leave her alone in a house with Hilda and Ambrose, that much was sure. They would just end up getting each other killed without Zelda taking care of them.

“Alright”, her niece replied. “That’s fine, then.”

Ambrose interrupted her. “Aunt Hilda, are you crying?”

 _In Satan’s name, not again._ “Hilda, don’t be ridiculous”, Zelda hissed, although knowing that this would not make her sister stop, anyway.

“But you’re getting married”, her sister sniffed. “I’m so happy for you!”   
  
Zelda rolled her eyes, trying to cover up the fact that this entire topic made her quite emotional herself, actually. No need for anyone to know that, though.

 

After dinner Zelda stayed in the kitchen for a while longer, waiting until Sabrina and Ambrose had left to properly talk to her sister about this whole thing. She might not want to admit it openly, but she actually valued Hilda’s opinion quite a bit.

“Do you think Sabrina is fine?” Zelda asked after the room has emptied. “With this new _situation._ ” She chose to label it like that, not knowing what else to call it.

Hilda shrugged. “I believe so.” She poured two cups of tea, pushing one over to her sister. “A bit of calming tea.”

Actually Zelda was really calm, but she drank it all the same.

Hilda was eyeing her, sipping on her own cup. “So”, she began slowly. “Where are you going to marry, then?”

This was something Zelda had not yet decided on, although she had thought about it herself. She absolutely did not want the entire coven to know, let alone make a big deal about this. It was supposed to be fast and quiet, so that nobody had time to raise eyebrows or ask questions.

“We could do it here, if you like”, Hilda offered, since she did not get an immediate response. “Like Edward and Diana.”   
  
Indeed, Edward’s and Diana’s ceremony had been performed in the yard of the Spellman house, too, just when she had gotten pregnant with Sabrina. It felt sort of like a deja vu, just this time it was Zelda herself who was getting married. Something she had never wanted to do, actually.

“I wish Edward was here to see this. You getting married”, Hilda continued, still sipping on her tea. Her eyes were getting watery again.

Zelda looked at her for a moment. “He probably wouldn’t even attend.” Her brother had never liked Faustus at all, not even when he had still been his mentor, and her getting married to him would probably not suit him, either. The last time she had had some sort of relationship with him, Edward had sent her away to Europe, after all.

Hilda shook her head. “Of course he would. He’d be happy for you.”

Zelda doubted that, but she didn’t say anything else. She was not sure how much Hilda actually knew about hers and Faustus’ history, and she didn’t mean to tell her more than she already knew.

A few seconds passed in silence, Zelda finishing her tea and putting the cup down.

Hilda was still side eyeing her, like there was something she meant to say, but didn’t dare to go through with it. It took her another few moments to speak again. “I’m actually a bit surprised I didn’t notice earlier.”

Zelda frowned. “Notice what exactly?”

Her sister shrugged. “Well, you being in love.”  
  
That sounded so strange in her ears, that it took her some time to come up with an answer. Zelda was definitely not in love. _Or was she?_ Who knew at this point. The pregnancy was constantly messing with her head, anyway. “Might just be the hormones”, she commented dryly, attempting to keep a straight face.

But Hilda knew, no need to sugar coat it. “Nah”, she responded, grinning a little. “That’s not the hormones.” She shrugged. “I always assumed you just kept running back to him all those years to drive Edward crazy, but now it makes sense.”

Actually, Zelda didn’t like what her sister was implying here. She had definitely not been in love with Faustus for all the centuries she had known him, that was a recent development. The baby was largely to blame for that. Otherwise she never would have gotten herself in such a mess.

But now it was done, and it was perhaps fortunate that there was no way out of this anymore, because otherwise Zelda surely would have tried something to not go through with this wedding. Because the thought of it was scaring her, much more than she liked to admit. “Perhaps I’ll regret the whole idea in a few years”, she responded to her sister, keeping a neutral tone.

Hilda sighed. “No you won’t. You two have been chasing each other ever since you got to the Academy, everyone knew that.”

Zelda looked at her, and wondered if she was _that_ predictable or if Hilda just had a special talent to find out things she was not supposed to know. “I guess so”, was all she replied, trying to keep things rather vague. Her sister knew too much already, and Zelda liked to keep her things private and feelings hidden. It was easier that way, she had learnt over time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, please leave your thoughts in the comments <3 and get excited, because next chapter is gonna be the wedding...


	14. Chapter 14

The wedding was supposed to take place two weeks later, which was quite fast as everyone involved noticed, but Zelda wanted to get over with it quickly. It needed to happen before Edward was born, and she still needed to fit into some sort of dress which was why she argued the sooner the better. That she was just afraid to change her mind was another thing entirely, something she kept to herself.

The relationship between her and Faustus pretty much stayed at the same slightly awkward level, with the only exception that Zelda was now wearing a three carat engagement ring, which was huge and she didn’t even dare to pick up the first days she owned it. Usually witches did not wear rings at all, but Faustus had insisted that she would.

Her agreement had been part of a compromise, within a lengthy discussion about her not wanting to move to the Blackwood residency. In the end he had agreed, clearly upset, and she had promised to wear and show off the ring. Which was not a bad deal on her end, but it had taken her a lot of nerves, too.

Especially since the other people at the Academy began to gossip about why Zelda Spellman was suddenly not only pregnant, but also wearing a huge diamond on her left hand. In particular her students were talking about it a lot, but no one dared to ask a single question. She had that sort of reputation, most of the people in her seminar not even daring to ask topic related questions, let alone personal ones. Which was fortunate for her in this case, though.

Sabrina had already started asking about the honeymoon, whether her Aunt would be gone afterwards, but witch tradition usually did not include a honeymoon, since most witches or warlocks did not even travel for holidays. If they wanted to go somewhere they could just teleport anyway, no reason to make such a big deal about travelling like the mortals did.

Still Faustus had made her promise to at least spend the day and night after the wedding at his place, which she really could not argue against. They would be married, after all.

The ceremony itself was planned to take place in the Spellman’s garden, with only Zelda’s family and Prudence present. Faustus’ daughter had been the first to congratulate Zelda on the pregnancy as soon as she had heard, offering to babysit and help with her little brother on as many occasions as possible. Actually Zelda had been the one who had urged Faustus to invite her, but she had told Prudence that it had been her father’s idea, which had made the girl smile brightly with surprise.   
  
Even Sabrina was pleased, since she had grown to be friends with the weird sisters by now, and she was happily chatting with Prudence and Ambrose about school, the wedding and whatever other topic came up.

The day of the wedding was set to be a Saturday, the unholy ceremony was held by the High Priest of the Church of Shadows, the next coven in the area. Witch tradition did not include any sort of vows, which Zelda was more than thankful for, and the ceremonies itself were usually short and plain. It did not even include rings, or any other sort of symbol. It was just words, some prayers to the Dark Lord and then it was over.

Still, the whole thing scared the hell out of her. She was almost trembling right before leaving the house, with Hilda hushing around her to straighten the dress.

“You look absolutely lovely, Zelds”, her sister commented, already quite teary eyed. She was sure to sob during the entire ceremony. Another thing not to look forward to.

Zelda was wearing black, as it was tradition, in a floor length gown with a top which was partly made out of lace. It was showing off her baby bump rather well, which she actually kind of liked. Hiding it had been alright for a while, but after four months she was growing tired of it.

Faustus’ jaw had actually dropped when she had walked towards him as she left the house soon after, which was honestly quite the satisfying feeling for her. It had made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, another new observation she had made recently. He had placed a kiss on her head then, resting one hand on her back and leading her down the stairs.

It sort of took away some of the nervousness and she felt much more secure suddenly, even standing next to him and holding his hand as the High Priest continued to go on about how the Dark Lord valued marriage above all, what special place they would get in hell, and some other stuff Zelda had forgotten the moment she heard it.

In the background Hilda was silently sobbing, with Ambrose handing her one tissue after the other and Sabrina stroking her back in calming motions. It was similar to a Catholic wedding in the way that the Priest asked them both to agree to the wedding, which of course was not the issue, and then ended by allowing them to seal the union with a kiss.

Not that Zelda had any problems with kissing, prude was definitely not an adjective she would use to describe herself, but this made her more nervous than any normal kiss. It was her wedding, after all. Was she supposed to feel different now? In all honesty she did not, apart from the weight of the diamond on her ring finger.

But when Faustus leaned in and kissed her, she felt it. She couldn’t quite say what it was, let alone describe it to anyone, but it definitely was different than usually. Perhaps this was what love felt like, after all. Some part of her still hoped that was not the case, since it was just as frightening as it had ever been. A wedding did not change that. Sometimes she still got the sudden urge to run, commitment always made her feel slightly caged.

Her sister was still sobbing when the wedding was over, squeezing her so hard Zelda thought she might faint from lack of air. Ambrose hugged her as well, mumbling something along the lines of “How does it feel to be the new Lady Blackwood?” before letting go of her with a smirk. She responded with a death stare, telling him to better shut up before she made him regret it. Sabrina was smiling too, even at the High Priest. She had told her Aunt just the day before that she was taking credit for the wedding and was happy she had gotten the High Priest to act on his feelings.

Despite all this Zelda was rather glad when the whole thing was over and Faustus teleported the two of them away from the Spellman house, leaving the laughter and chatting behind and dive into the calming silence of the woods. She was still wearing her wedding dress, not even having bothered to change. He had not let go of her hand since the beginning of the ceremony, now leading her up to his house through the trees.

It was a weird sort of silence between them, Zelda just smiling to herself hoping he wouldn’t notice. This had actually made her a lot happier than expected, and she felt like the title of Lady Blackwood was suiting her well enough.

Suddenly he stopped, just before entering the house. And without ever saying a word, without giving Zelda a chance to resist, he picked her up just at the doorstep.

“What are you doing?” she protested instantly, as he opened the door with his free hand and carried her inside. Actually she was feeling quite comfortable in his arms, but there was no need for him to know that.

“Honouring an unholy wedding tradition”, Faustus simply stated, letting the door fall shut behind him. “The groom carries the bride over the doorstep.” He said it as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

Zelda was still shifting, hoping he would let go of her at this point. “Well, we are past the doorstep now”, she replied dryly, since she noticed that he was already heading for the stairs.

As expected, he had no intention of letting her go just yet. Zelda sighed, obviously having to accept that she had lost this particular round, and let herself sink a little more against his body as they went upstairs. It felt weird, although so familiar. She wouldn’t know how to properly describe it.

He let her down on the bed with the black silk sheets, the colour tying in perfectly with her dress. For a moment she just sat there, letting the soft fabric run through her fingers. She had no idea how to go from here. This was about how far she had planned. She was hoping for him to do something, just anything, but he just remained silent, leaning on the opposing wall and watching her. Was he waiting for her act?

Suddenly, just in this moment, she felt a little flutter inside her. At first she wondered if she might have gone crazy, if the lack of sleep and pregnancy hormones had made her hallucinate by now. But then it happened again, and it felt as if something inside her was moving. She froze for a moment, not able to react. _Had this really just happened?_ Carefully, she took a deep breath, waiting for something to happen.

Faustus seemed to have noticed her sudden change of behaviour. “Is something wrong?” he wanted to know, just on the verge of sounding alarmed.

She looked up to him for a moment, trying to get the words out. “I think he just kicked me.”

He blinked in confusion. “Who?”

If she had not been in such an exceptional situation, she probably would have rolled her eyes at him. But instead she just breathed in slowly again, feeling the baby inside her very slowly move. And honestly, it was the most magical thing she had ever experienced. She totally forgot that he had said anything.

Faustus seemed to have gotten himself together by now, since he sat down on the bed next to her, still eyeing her in worry.

Very carefully, she reached for his hand and placed it on her belly, waiting for the flutter to return. And there it was, a little more distinct than the first time. She looked at Faustus, waiting whether he could have felt it or not.

Suddenly, his face lightened up. He almost shrieked back, redrawing his hand. “He’s moving already”, he stated, as if it was the most unusual concept he could think of.

Zelda actually had to smile quite a bit. Never had she actually realized what growing a baby inside herself meant, until she had actually truly felt him.

Some seconds passed in utter silence, both of them trying to digest what they had just felt. Zelda was not sure if she had ever felt so happy in her life. But that might have just been a rush of hormones. She seemed to be getting those a lot, lately.

His eyes were still resting on her, almost tying her to him as she looked up. He leaned forward to kiss her, letting a hand run through her hair as his teeth dug into her bottom lip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, nails digging into the skin as she pulled him closer. Actually she was only half aware what she was even doing, but they were married, so what did it matter? It was way too infatuating to stop, anyway.

Usually she would have hated herself for falling so easily to his charms, once again, but she was Lady Blackwood not so who even cared? There was nothing she needed to prove anymore. No one she had to compete with. Constance was gone, and so was every last trace of her in this house.

He pushed her down onto the bed, already half opening the zipper of her dress. His fingers seemed to leave traces on her bare skin, sending shivers down her spine. Zelda could not quite remember the last time they had actually had sex in a bed, probably not since the Academy. It was a welcome change of location, though. Sitting on desks or being pressed against walls or doors got uncomfortable after a while.

It was weird somehow because in a way, she had never expected her wedding night to be this way. But as he was pressing kisses to her neck, his warm breath creeping over her skin, she knew that this was exactly the way it was supposed to be. And she was loving every second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any ideas or inspirations on how this should continue, please let me know & the next chapter will be there either this evening or tomorrow morning we'll see <3


	15. Chapter 15

Zelda couldn’t remember when or how she had fallen asleep, but when she woke up the next morning the other side of the bed was empty. She was actually a little disappointed, much more than she would ever admit to herself. Carefully she sat up, looking around her. The sun was shining through the window, and outside little ice crystals were sitting on the window glass.

Edward was silent this morning, which almost made her feel a little sad. She had gotten used to the little kicks and flutters.

Her eyes caught the ring on her finger, watching the stone reflecting the light particles. Actually one was supposed to take an engagement ring off after the wedding, but she had gotten so used to the weight on her left hand that she didn’t want to part with it anymore. Besides witches didn’t have wedding bands anyway, so this was the next best thing. And who didn’t like to showcase a three carat pure diamond ring?

She slipped out of the bed, wearing only her underwear and debating whether she should go downstairs like this. Eventually she opted against it, reaching for Faustus’ white shirt which was still lying on the floor instead. She only closed the buttons halfway up, not even bothering to do anything else.

Faustus was sitting in the kitchen, reading the paper and sitting in front of quite a number of little boxes, wrapped with black paper. Zelda frowned as she entered.

“The wedding gifts”, he explained, raising his eyebrows slightly at her outfit. “Good morning”, he added then, voice entirely unbothered.

She sat down at the other end of the table, reaching for one of the boxes. “Who sent those?” she wanted to know, not even sure who had known of this wedding, anyway. Let alone send gifts.

He only shrugged. “Other covens, I believe. And one is from Prudence. She insisted to get you something.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow in surprise, not having expected that at all. “Did she now”, she muttered, briefly skimming the cards which came with the gifts to determine which one was from Prudence. She was pretty curious what the girl had decided to get her. It was one of the larger boxes, although it felt quite light in weight. Zelda ripped the paper open carefully, opening the black box below it.

To her surprise it was a small baby playsuit, a soft teddy material and it actually had a similar white collar to the dresses Prudence liked to wear. It was awfully cute, to be completely honest, and Zelda could not quite hide the little smile. Baby clothes always seemed to lighten her mood. She would have to thank the girl later when she was at the Academy.

Speaking of which, she glanced over to the clock for a moment. Her first seminar was starting in an hour, and she still needed to get home before. “It’s late, I need to get going”, she explained, getting up from her chair.

He eyed her for a moment, before folding the paper and putting it down. “If you moved in you would not have to leave every morning”, he noted, reaching for her hand to hold her back from leaving the room.

Zelda sighed, letting him pull her a little closer. She already married him, how more could he possibly want? “I can’t leave Sabrina alone with Hilda”, she simply replied, which was only the truth, after all.   
  
Hilda was about as capable to handle Sabrina as she was when it came to anything else in her life apart from gardening and working in that damn book store. Sabrina needed Zelda, and so did Ambrose for that matter. He might still be housebound, but without her watching over him he might as well burn it all down by accident.

“Will you at least come back tonight?” Faustus was still holding onto her hand, running his fingers over the skin of her wrist. It sent little shivers down her spine.

Another night spent like the last one actually sounded rather thrilling, she had to admit so much, and she was half-tempted to admit, but Sabrina had made her promise that if she married the High Priest, she would still spend just as much time with her family as before.

“I need to be home for dinner”, she therefore answered, fingers playing with the ring on her finger. “But you could stay over”, she offered, not even sure why she suddenly felt like this was a good idea. But no one would know anyway, if he came late enough. Hilda went to bed at 11 anyway, Ambrose barely left the basement, and Sabrina was occupied with homework and studying usually all evening.

Faustus seemed just as surprised as she had been at herself, although he slowly nodded. “As you wish”, he replied, letting go of her hand and kissing her lightly on the cheek. “Then I will see you tonight.”

She left the kitchen then, teleporting herself back into the Spellman yard. Since she was still wearing his shirt and not much else, and was probably showcasing some very obvious bruises on her neck which would tell anyone who didn’t know so far exactly what she had been up to all night, she was hoping her family had already left for work or school and that Ambrose was busy phoning his boyfriend or whatever.

But of course, she did not get that lucky, and was practically running into her nephew the moment she had entered the house.

“Auntie Zee”, he greeted, quite enthusiastically, grinning at her outfit. “Or should I say Lady Blackwood?” He came close enough to inspect the bite marks and bruising on her neck just well enough, raising an obvious eyebrow. “Quite the night, huh?” he commented, still smirking.

“Shut up Ambrose”, she muttered, already on the stairs. Not that she cared what he thought of her, or knew what she did all night, but she wouldn’t listen to his mockery all the time.

He was still laughing. “Working on another baby I see.”

She shook her head at him, wondering if she would ever again hear the end of this. Probably not, if she was honest with herself. He had too much fun teasing her.

Upstairs, she made sure to close her door loudly enough for her nephew to hear, hoping he would get the hint. If he kept annoying her like this, she would end up burying him in the yard as well.

 

It was quite the day for Zelda at the Academy. Word travelled fast within the coven, barely everything ever stayed secret, and so some students already greeted her with ‘Lady Blackwood’ and Sabrina whispered to her after choir practice that most of them already knew that the High Priest had gotten married this weekend, and since Zelda was the only obvious choice, most people had done the math.

Actually she didn’t mind much, since it saved her the energy of having to explain it. And so she chose to run with it, overhearing the whispers in the hallways and silently accepting her new title of Lady Blackwood. It sounded good in her ears, if she was being honest, and she had to admit to herself that the second most important position in the coven did suit her quite well. When she had been a little girl she had always wanted to be High Priest, as her father had been before Edward, but since that was not possible, this was perhaps the next best thing.

It was rather late when she returned to the house, and she missed the first half of dinner. Sabrina was happy she even showed up, though, greeting her with a surprised “I didn’t think you would come home today, Aunt Zee”. She had talked about Harvey than, and about Baxter High, and Ambrose had remarked that Luke would be back in Greendale within the next week and how excited he was. Afterwards he left dinner early, mumbling something about having to call him right now, and disappeared into the basement.

Hilda and Sabrina cleaned up the kitchen, Hilda chatting about the book store, how she had almost finished knitting three sets of baby clothes and how Sabrina was doing with her studies.

Their niece then went upstairs, already wishing them a good night, explaining how she had a ton of homework and stuff for conjuring class she needed to catch up on. “If I don’t have my essay done by tomorrow, Father Blackwood will probably curse me”, she commented, looking over to Zelda almost accusingly, before disappearing.

“I’ll go to bed as well”, Hilda smiled weakly, after having finished the kitchen work. “Do you need some tea?”

Honestly, Hilda’s tea was the last thing Zelda needed right now. “I’m fine, sister”, she replied, getting up from her chair as well. Vinegar Tom had curled up at her feet, now jumping up and watching her. He had been behaving strangely for weeks now, but Zelda had not been able to find out why.

Her sister frowned, also seeming to notice the dog’s odd behaviour. “Alright. Good night then.” She added a quick smile, although still seeming a little irritated.

Zelda watched her sister get upstairs, hearing the door of her room falling shut. She took a deep breath, looking over to the huge clock in their entrance hall. It was almost midnight, witching hour as one might call it.

Just in this moment, someone knocked on the door. She went to open it, letting the High Priest inside as quietly as possible. She didn’t need Ambrose making a fool of her twice in one day, she really didn’t.

Faustus greeted her with a kiss, something she couldn’t recall him ever doing before. It surprised her too much to think of a proper reaction, and so she just went with it.

Actually, she was already regretting the idea of having him in her house. At the Blackwood residency she was still able to have her space, keep him at distance, but in her room it was impossible. Besides, she always had to fear that Sabrina was going to walk in, having set free another demon or whatever other mess she had gotten herself into. Just to be very sure, she enchanted the lock.

Zelda sat down on her bed, playing with her hair since she didn’t find anything else to occupy herself with. Baby Edward was moving again, softly kicking against the inside of her bump.

“How are you feeling?” Faustus asked, if only to fill the silence. He did look genuinely concerned, though. “Perhaps we should cut some of your seminars so you have less work at the Academy.”   
  
She was not quite sure where this idea was coming from. “I’m not even in my third trimester”, she argued.

He was still standing, right in the middle of the room, obviously not quite sure what to do with himself either. “I just want you to have everything you need”, he replied, eyeing her carefully. “Both of you.”

Zelda remained silent for a moment, although she did appreciate his concern. It was kind of sweet. She rested a hand on her little bump, lightly feeling the movements below her fingertips. It was exhilarating.

Suddenly, she was freezing. Her window had been open all day, and the chilly air was still lingering. For a moment she debated to stand up and light the fireplace, but then she decided against it. Then, barely a second later, the wood was cracking and a small flame was rising.

Faustus almost jumped in surprise, looking back and forth between Zelda and the fire. He raised an eyebrow at her. “I wasn’t aware you possessed the power of Pyrokinesis”, he commented.

She looked at him in confusion. “I don’t.” At first she had thought it might have been him who sparked the fire, but his reaction had told her otherwise. Now she was even more confused.

He frowned for a moment, before turning around and reaching for one of the candles she had sitting on her drawer. “Do it again”, he commanded, handing her the candle.

Honestly, she had no idea what to do. She had not even wanted to light the fireplace with her mind, how could she do it again? But she had barely turned her eyes to the candle and it was already burning. It frightened her, actually. Made her tremble slightly.

To her surprise, Faustus was smiling. Almost proudly. “This is our son’s doing”, he explained, taking the candle from her and blowing it out.

Slowly, Zelda began to understand. She had heard of such a phenomenon, but never witnessed it herself. Sometimes, a child born of a High Priest possessed certain abilities from birth on, and even earlier. Those were then reflecting on the mother, which might experience a spike in powers during the last months. That was probably why she was suddenly able to light things on fire with her mind. Apparently, Baby Edward was already able to do Pyrokynesis. Which was quite remarkable, if she might say so herself. She was sort of proud of her little boy, already now.

“I hope he won’t set the nursery on fire, then”, Zelda commented dryly, resting a protecting hand on her belly.   
  
Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about this. A mother’s instinct, one might call it. Or perhaps it was just her being hysteric, she couldn’t know for sure. “I think I might sleep now”, she added, trying not to let her emotions show.

It was the first time she was actually consciously falling asleep next to Faustus, and although she didn’t quite know how to behave, it made her feel rather good.   
  
Still, there was this weird feeling at the back of her mind she wasn’t entirely able to let go. She felt better when he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss into her hair, although she still felt partly worried when she drifted into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like this one, please let me know what you think and how you think it will continue <3


	16. Chapter 16

When Zelda opened her eyes again, she was somewhere else. The air was suddenly hot around her, the empty sky above her head was black and without stars. _Where was she?_ She was only half aware that she was dreaming, beginning to walk a few steps. Around her dark mountains were rising in the air, throwing long grotesque shadows on the ground which was all dark sand. Everything seemed deserted,

Somewhere someone was screaming, followed by a long cry. It made her shriek, seeming to cut through her very bones. _What in Satan’s name was this place?_ Above her, a blood moon was rising.

And then, just like that, a figure appeared in front of her. She would have known him anywhere, in any time, without ever seeing his face. Suddenly, she was aware that she was wearing her wedding dress.

“Edward”, she whispered, not daring to disturb the silence by speaking any louder. This was a dream for sure.

He was close enough for her to see his face now. “Zelda”, he greeted, stopping some meters away from her. The shadows made his expression seem rather sad. Somehow he did not even appear surprised to see her.

What was happening? Of course she had dreamed of her brother before, many times, but never in such a way. Everything felt so real. Apart from Edward’s complexion, who seemed to be only half solid, like she could reach her hand through him. “Where am I?” she wanted to know, although it was probably a stupid question.

“You’re sleepwalking”, her brother answered, now almost smiling. “I brought you here.” He made a gesture. “To hell.”

She looked around herself, now almost alarmed. It was so empty. “I-I don’t understand”, she stuttered, eyes again fixed on her brother. All she wanted was to hug him, but she could not even be sure if he was really there. Had she really gone crazy now, was this a product of her imagination? Perhaps she was hallucinating.

Suddenly, Edward shifted closer. He reached for her hands, his skin feeling cool against hers. She was surprised she could even touch him. “Zee, you need to listen to me.”

Her heart warmed at the sound of his nickname for her. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him. This was not really happening, after all. She would never be able to hug her brother again.

“You’re in danger”, Edward said with such seriousness, that it scared her for a moment. “And so is your son.”

Reflexively, she put a hand to her belly. “Why?” she wanted to know. What was all of this? Second trimester hysteria?

Her brother smiled weakly, eyes now almost sad. “I just need you to trust me.” He sounded so familiar, as if it had only been yesterday that they had spoken.  
  
But how could she? He was _dead._ Suddenly, she felt like tearing up. “I’m not really here, am I?”

He ran a hand through her hair, like he had always done when they were little children. “Like I said, you are sleepwalking.”

She still had no idea what that meant, and it didn’t make anything any clearer. Why was he telling her that her son was in danger? Who could possibly wish him harm? Edward had been the person she had almost trusted most in her life, the only person she could always be sure would not lie to her. He never had.

“I named the baby after you.” It felt like the right thing to say, not knowing for how much longer she would stay asleep.

Her brother smiled. “I know.” He looked around him for a moment, as if he was afraid they were being watched. “I wish I could have been there for your wedding.”

She had wished that, too, more than anything.

Suddenly, a scream disrupted the silence, followed by a deep growl and the sounding of hoofs on hard ground. Like something was coming closer. She felt horror creeping up on her.

“I need to go.” Edward seemed alarmed, again looking around to scan his surroundings. “My time is up.”

This made even less sense than anything else he had told her, and Zelda was really starting to doubt her own sanity. “Why is my son in danger?” she tried again, fearing her brother would leave her without answers.

Edward looked at her for another moment, now almost apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Zee.” He pressed a kiss to her hair, holding onto her hands, and then only a second later he vanished. Just like that, he was gone.

Zelda stood alone in the empty desert, feeling as hallow as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

 

She jumped up in her bed, breathing so heavily she was afraid she might suffocate. Very slowly, she realized where she was. In her own room, in her own bed. Her head was spinning, and she felt like throwing up.

Her eyes were burning with tears, at the sudden realization that her brother was still dead and gone, and she had never really spoken to him.

Next to her, Faustus was stirring. “What’s wrong?” he wanted to know, still half asleep.

Still in horror, Zelda took a deep breath. She felt horribly sick. The scenes played out in front of her eyes again, the screams echoed through her ears. _Had this been a vision?_ At first she was not able to speak, let alone give an answer.

Faustus ran a hand over her back, now obviously having woken up. “What happened?” he tried again, more urgent this time.

Finally, her heart rate was slowing down slightly. His touch made her relax somehow “Nothing”, she replied, but the trembling in her voice was betraying her. “Just nightmares.”

It had not felt like a nightmare, if she was being honest. Usually dreams were all dizzy and confusing when one woke up, and after just a few seconds half of it was forgotten. But this one was as clear as it had ever been, seeming to have burned itself into her mind. She felt as if her brother was still standing in front of her.

“Go back to sleep”, Faustus replied, voice sounding as if he was already drifting back to sleep.

Slowly she laid down again, if only to please him. She didn’t think she could fall asleep again this night, or any night for that matter. As much as she wanted to see Edward again, she didn’t want to return to the place she had just been.

It took a few minutes until Faustus had fully fallen back asleep next to her, his breathing going more slowly and steady. She used it to slip out of bed silently, wrapping herself in her nightgown and leaving the room.

Now she could _really_ use a cigarette. Although she couldn’t, for obvious reasons.

The stairs cracked under her steps when she walked downstairs, mind still partly absent. She was debating whether this had been a fair warning, something she should consider, or just her hormone-sparked hysteria speaking. Was this her mind playing tricks on her?

She had originally planned to sit down in the kitchen and drink some of Hilda’s calming tea, but just as she had reached the hallway, she reconsidered. Vinegar Tom had woken up and was greeting her, running around and sniffling her clothes.

With quick steps she made her way down to the basement, praying to Satan that Ambrose would still be up. It was late, for sure, but her nephew liked staying up all night and sleeping in all morning. She still felt weird when she knocked on his door, wondering what he would think when she stood at his doorstep at three in the morning.

To her surprise, Ambrose answered the door right away. His brows furrowed when he saw Zelda. “Auntie Zee”, he noted. “Do you know what time it is?”

Honestly, she could not care less about all that. Instead, she cut it straight to the point. “I need your Ouija Board.”

He looked at her with proper confusion, not even answering for a second. “Uhm”, he replied, scratching his head. “For what purpose, exactly?”

She wondered if her nephew had gone stupid. There was only one reason to use such a board, anyway. “To contact a spirit, what other purpose is there?” she snapped back, probably harsher than necessary.

Her nephew had obviously understood how serious she was, since he nodded slowly and went to grab the board from his room. Still, he didn’t hand it to her. “Spell casting can upset the pregnancy”, he reminded her, holding on to the wooden board in his hands. “I’ll help you.”

Actually, this had not been what she had wanted to hear. Fair enough, Ambrose was probably thinking she had lost her mind. Showing up here in the middle of the night, requesting of all things an Ouija Board, which she only knew he possessed because she had given him a two hour lecture about how dangerous those tools were and how if he ever used it inside the house she would have to kill him and get rid of his body. And now she wanted to use it herself. But this was an important matter, and she couldn’t think about possible consequences right now.

“Let’s get on with it”, was all she said, turning around and making her way upstairs.

Ambrose was shaking his head in confusion, but followed his Aunt nonetheless. “I hope this won’t get us killed, Auntie Zee”, he said, only half serious.

She hoped that too, very blatantly. Not that she had experience with ghosts, or spirits, or anything of the sorts. Fairly enough she was just hoping it would work. It _had_ to. Otherwise she would probably lose her mind.

Zelda turned the kitchen lights on with a flick of her wrist, waiting for her nephew to put the board down on the table. She reached into on of the cupboards for a small glass, putting it down as well.

Ambrose’s eyes met hers, almost worried. “Are you sure about this, Auntie Zee?” He sat down on the table, turning the board around to face her.

She nodded. She must be. Otherwise this was bound to fail. Witches were actually not allowed to use Ouija Boards, interactions with spirits who were bound to another realm were simply forbidden, just as it was in Christian religion. And Edward was most likely in hell, judging from what she had just seen, which classified as another realm. If Faustus knew what she was about to do, he would probably have to excommunicate her at the spot.

In her many years she had heard quite some stories about Ouija boards gone wrong, but those had been mostly mortals who accidently set demons or ghosts free in their house. That wouldn’t happen to her. Or so she hoped. A ghost on the loose was the last thing she needed right now.

Her fingers were slightly shaking when she put a candle in between her and her nephew, which was not lighted. Then she put the glass on the board. Her heart was racing. This was a terrible idea, she knew it was.

“Here we go”, Ambrose muttered, half to himself. “Do we need a summoning spell first?”

Actually, Zelda had no idea. How did these boards work, anyway? Just to be sure, she used one, the most universal one she could think of. The second she spoke the name Edward Spellman, her nephew seemed to shriek.

“Auntie Zee”, he began, shaking his head. He was obviously beginning to understand what she was about to do. All the laws she was about to break. “I don’t think this is a very clever idea.”

It was not, obviously, but she didn’t care anymore.

Carefully, she drew her attention to the board again. “Are we alone?” Her words echoed through the silence of the kitchen. Ambrose seemed to be holding his breath.

Then the glass flew over the board, resting on the _no._ Within the next second, the lights went off. Only the candle was suddenly burning.

A shiver ran down Zelda’s spine. It was truly working. “What is your name?” she continued, eyes only fixed on the board. It was vaguely illuminated by the candlelight, the rest of the room being pitch black. She could hear her nephew’s heavy breathing. The flame of the candle was wavering slowly, although there was no wind in the room.

The glass began to move. First an E, than a D. It spelled out the name Edward perfectly, but that was easy enough. Was it really her brother, though? She couldn’t be sure. But now she was already in too deep, and stopping did not seem like an option.

Her voice was trembling when she spoke the next words. “Is my son in danger?” she wanted to know.

This time, the spirit took its time with the answer. Eventually, the glass moved. _Yes._

The door to the kitchen fell shut, as if being caught by a sudden flow of air. Outside, the wind was rattling on the windows.

Zelda took a deep breath, trying to keep herself together. This was spooky, she had to admit herself, but nothing she couldn’t handle. “From whom?” she continued, hoping that she would at least get an answer this time.

Again, nothing happened for a few moments. Then, the glass shifted over to the alphabet printed onto the board. _F._

Somehow, she knew what was to come. Felt it in her bones.

 _A. U. S. T. U. S._ The glass remained on the last letter, almost mockingly.   
  
Suddenly one of the windows to the kitchen flew open, the wind howling through the room. The light of the candle died, and it was pitch black. Later Zelda was certain she had felt something move behind her. But it could easily have been the wind.

As she made the lights turn back on, barely a second had passed. The glass was sitting next to the board as if she never touched it. The window was closed, the door still open. It was as if they had gone back in time.

Apart from Ambrose’s horrified expression, who was starring at her in shock. “What in seven hells was _that?”_ His voice was shaking quite a bit.

Vinegar Tom came into the kitchen, scratching at the door and barking at the empty room, until Zelda appealed to him to be quiet. She didn’t need everyone else in the house to wake up. He curled up at her feet then, growling a little. She gave her best to ignore him.

Her nephew still seemed to be in shock. “That was wild”, he commented, running a hand through his hair.

To that she had to agree.

“Why did you think your son was in danger?” Ambrose asked into the silence, now eyeing his Aunt rather suspiciously. “Did something happen?”

She shook her head very slowly. “Just a feeling.” The lie went easily across her lips, since she didn’t want to relive the dream again. It was stuck in her head enough, anyway.

Her nephew bit his lip. Obviously he had seen what the spirit had said about Faustus, and he was probably wondering why that should be the case. “Do you really think it was Edward?”

To be completely honest she doubted it, but that did not make it any less worrisome. Slowly, she took a deep breath and got up from her chair. “No word of this to anyone. _Especially_ not Father Blackwood.”

Ambrose nodded. He seemed much too frightened to speak about this ever again, anyway. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen, he held her back. “Auntie Zee?”

She turned around in the door frame. “Yes, Ambrose?”

He was holding the Ouija Board in his hands, turning it around itself. “You’ll be careful, right?” There was a short pause. “With Blackwood.”

The concern in his voice was actually rather sweet, she had to admit. Still, she didn’t want him to worry. She could very well handle herself. “Of course”, she replied, practically fleeing the kitchen. Never would she let any harm come to her son, she would make sure of it. It didn’t matter from which person.

The fact that Faustus was lying asleep in her bed was not making things easier, though, and when Zelda slipped back into her room she wondered if she could really trust him. Why would the spirit name him, of all people? Carefully she laid down again, pulling the sheets over her body. Suddenly she was freezing again.

Perhaps it had been a bad idea to even try to contact any spirit, and it had just been straight up lying to her. Or so she tried to convince herself. But the doubt lingered, buried deep within her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i tried to pick up the vibe of the show a bit more, which is why things are getting a bit darker. <3 let me know what you think in the comments please and what you think is gonna happen next!!


	17. Chapter 17

Somehow Zelda had managed to fall back asleep that night, and when she opened her eyes the next morning Faustus was already awake. He was lying next to her still, making it the first time ever she was actually waking up next to him. Which still felt kind of strange, although they were married.

“Good morning”, he greeted, eyes fixed on hers.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Zelda sat up in the sheets. She was hoping he had not been watching her sleep, even though she felt like this had been exactly the case. The events of last night were still running through her mind, and she felt as tired as if she had not slept at all. “Do you want to stay for breakfast?” she asked, more out of politeness than anything else. Her brain was not working properly yet.

“I need to be at the Academy”, he replied, sitting up at well and slipping out of the bed.

Somehow, the answer made her feel glad. But facing her family at breakfast, especially her nephew, did not seem like a better option, either. _Couldn’t she just go back to sleep?_

Just to have something to do, she stood up as well, getting into her nightgown which was lying mindlessly on the floor. She could already hear sounds downstairs, telling her the rest of the family was already awake. Fortunately Faustus could just teleport out of the house.

“I’ll see you later”, he interrupted her thoughts, causing her to turn around and face him. Their eyes locked for a moment, and just for a second she could swear his glance travelled down to her lips.

Zelda nodded slowly, wringing her hands nervously. Would he ever stop making her nervous? Because by now it was getting embarassing.

Eventually, he seemed to have gotten over himself and did lean in to kiss her, his lips lingering on hers for some seconds.

The whole situation was still a little too much for Zelda and her nerves, especially considering the rush of hormones she got every time he kissed her. This really wasn’t normal anymore. Somehow she feared she was in too deeply already.

He teleported out of the room then, and left her behind on her own. She was biting her bottom lip, something she seemed to have copied from her teenage niece. Why did everything always have to be so complicated? Couldn’t she just enjoy things like a normal person?

Zelda took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. Not that it helped, for that matter. This baby was making her lose her mind, obviously. One nightmare and she freaked out completely, summoning a spirit in the middle of the night. How old was she, _sixteen?_ She shook her head at herself, opening the door and making her way downstairs. The baby was fine, nothing to worry about.

Sabrina and Hilda were already downstairs, Hilda making scrambled eggs like she had learned in England and Sabrina catching up on her homework as it appeared from the massive amount of books and paper in front of her.

“Good morning”, Zelda greeted as she entered the room, sitting down on her usual spot. “I hope that is not your essay for conjuring class”, she added, looking at her niece.

The teenager huffed. “Father Blackwood always gives me the worst topics to write about!” The look she gave her Aunt was rather accusingly. “I feel like he _hates_ me.”

“He doesn’t hate you”, Zelda argued, although she did know that Faustus was not the biggest fan of Sabrina, either. He had hated her father, though, and perhaps he was not quite able to separate the two. “Besides I’m sure you’re more than able to handle even the more complex topics.”

Sabrina furrowed her brows. “Not with all the extra stuff I get from Baxter High!”

“Breakfast is ready”, Hilda interrupted, just in the right moment. She placed a plate of egg in front of her niece, patting her on the shoulder. “Eat up, darling.”

Her sister handed Zelda another plate, looking over to the door. “I wonder what Ambrose is up to this morning”, Hilda mumbled, turning off the oven. “Should I go check on him?”

“I’m sure he’s fine”, Zelda interfered quickly. “Probably still sleeping.” She could do without having to face her nephew for a few more hours, if she was honest.

Hilda seemed slightly irritated, but only nodded. “Alright.” She sat down on the table as well then, looking over to Sabrina who was half writing her essay, half shoving eggs into her mouth.

Zelda sighed. “What’s the problem with the essay, Sabrina?” she wanted to know, although she had not been wanting to help her niece with such things anymore. Cheating on tests was one thing, but she needed to at least do her other work on her own.

The teenager looked up. “I’m almost done, I just need to find one more spell.” She handed her Aunt the task she was working on. “I can’t seem to figure it out.” Her eyes were almost pleading, begging for help. And she needed to leave the house in only a couple of minutes, unless she wanted to be late for Baxter High.

Again, Zelda sighed in defeat. “A summoning spell including a salt pentagram, some animal blood and burned sage”, she replied. “Should be somewhere in the textbook.”

Sabrina was smiling from ear to ear. “Thank you _so_ much, Aunty Zee. Father Blackwood would have killed me if I didn’t hand it in today.”

Zelda doubted that he would dare to do so, but she was glad to help anyway. And she would have a talk with Faustus about those essay topics, although her niece didn’t have to know about this. Somehow Sabrina always got what she wanted. That was Edward’s charm, surely.

The teenager left for school soon after, leaving the two sisters alone in the kitchen. Which was rather good timing, since Zelda had something else was wanting to get out. “Hilda?” she asked slowly, putting down the paper she had been reading.

Her sister looked up from her plate. “Yes?”

Actually she had no idea how to explain where this sudden concern for her son’s well-being came from, but the dream and her nightly ghost experience surely had changed her perspective. And she needed to make sure that Edward would be safe. “Will you be an unholy godmother to my son?” She said it in such a neutral tone that she was impressed with herself for not getting emotional.

Hilda’s eyes widened at the words. “What?” She sounded rather surprised. But at least she wasn't crying yet. 

Zelda took a deep breath. “If something happens, if-” she broke off. She didn’t know why she had brought up this topic in the first place. But if there was one person she would trust with her child apart from herself, it would be her sister, as hard as it was to admit. “You will take care of him, right?” She was acting on her intuition here, the distinct feeling telling her something bad was about to happen.

Her sister was nodding slowly. “Of course I will, Zelds.” She smiled softly. “But nothing is going to happen.”

Zelda nodded. “I just want to make sure he is safe”, she repeated, more urgent this time.

Hilda seemed almost worried now, frowning a little. “Did something happen?” she wanted to know, reaching out to touch Zelda’s arm.

 _Couldn’t she just agree to being his godmother?_ In Satan’s name, she hated Hilda’s curiosity. “Everything is fine”, she brushed her sister off, rather bluntly.

Hilda eyed her for another moment. “Well, I’ll happily be his godmother, then.”

She was starting to get emotional already, Zelda could tell from the look in her sister’s eyes. By now she wished she had never said anything. “Thank you”, she ended the conversation rather firmly, getting up from her chair at once. “I need to be at the Academy.”

 

Sabrina arrived at Baxter High already late, rushing through the empty hallways while trying to remember what her next class was. This weekend had been a mess, and she still had not quite recovered from the fact that her Aunt Zelda had really _married_ the High Priest, of all people. It would take some more time for her to stomach that.

Suddenly, just as she was running around a corner, Miss Wardwell stepped into her way. “Sabrina”, she noted, with the same sort of bored voice she usually had.

The teenager stopped, breathing slightly heavily. “Miss Wardwell. Don’t we have class right now?” she managed to get out.

Her teacher smiled. “Well, yes. I was just on my way, actually.” Her eyes were still inspecting the girl, seeming to pierce through her very soul. “You seem a little stressed”, she noticed.

Sabrina wasn’t quite sure if it was meant to be ironic. “I just had the craziest weekend ever”, she replied, running a hand through her hair. “And being at two schools is more stressful than one might think.” Especially when Father Blackwood’s favourite past time was giving her extra essays or papers to do.

Miss Wardwell raised a perfectly curved eyebrow at her. “Crazy how?” she wanted to know, voice still sounding entirely unbothered.

“My Aunt Zelda married the High Priest”, Sabrina explained, making a face at the thought of it. It was still such a wild concept to her. She had closed her eyes during the wedding kiss, and Prudence had laughed at her as if she was a little baby. But she really could do without the image of her Aunt and Father Blackwood making out.

To her surprise, Miss Wardwell’s cool facade dropped for a second. She stopped walking, freezing in the middle of the hallway. “ _What_?”

Sabrina frowned, turning around to her teacher. Why did she even care? She had never seemed to like her Aunt Zelda, or Blackwood for that matter, and Sabrina couldn’t think of a reason why she would be bothered by it.

But Miss Wardwell’s half-bored expression was already back. “Excuse my reaction, I was just a little surprised.” She smiled a calm smile. “Give them my congrats, if you may.”

“Sure”, Sabrina muttered, although not entirely convinced. But just in that moment they reached the classroom, and Harvey came up to her and gave her a hug, which made her lose track of Miss Wardwell and occupied her mind otherwise. She didn’t give the situation any second thought.

 

Faustus was sitting in his office, stacks of books in front of him, and was grading the essays from his conjuring class. He had gotten all but Sabrina Spellman’s yet, who had begged him to extend the deadline for another day and had promised to hand it in today. He had agreed, only because he was afraid she might complain to Zelda and he didn’t want her to bother with such topics at the moment.

He had just begun with Prudence’s paper, when suddenly a shadow crept through the room. Instantly he looked up from his work, putting the pen down. “You’re back”, he said into the silence, watching the figure of the woman appear in front of him.

Madam Satan smiled, stopping in front of his desk and leaning slightly against it. “I just had a very interesting talk with Miss Spellman”, she mused, eyes sparkling with the sort of amusement he knew couldn’t mean anything good.

“So?” he replied, more unfriendly than anything else. There was no need to conceal the fact that he didn’t want her here.

She tilted her head a little. “I thought many things of you, Blackwood, but never that you were a romantic.” Slowly she walked over to his secretary, opening its doors and pouring herself a glass of whiskey. “You married the woman.” She shook her head almost mockingly, raising the glass to her lips.

“I love her”, Faustus replied, watching her red lipstick leave a stain on the glass as she put it down on the table.

Now she raised an eyebrow at him. “ _Love?_ Oh Satan.” She was almost laughing in amusement. “Wait till she finds out.”

He clenched his jaw so tight that it hurt. Never. Of course, he knew exactly what the demoness was referring to. “She won’t”, he responded firmly. “I won’t do what he asks of me.”

Madam Satan’s eyes darkened at the words, her long nails scratching along the glass in her hands. “The Dark Lord keeps his promises. But he expects the same of you.”

Faustus was not surprised that she knew about his arrangement with the Dark Lord, she had a way of finding out things she wasn’t supposed to. Which was why she was so dangerous. If it weren’t for her powers, he would have gotten ridden of her a long time ago, this insufferable bitch. She did nothing but annoy him all day. “Why don’t you keep to your own business?” he hissed.

She huffed. “Because he sent me, to remind you of your promise. The deal you made eighteen years ago.” She took a slow sip of whiskey. “The deal which made you High Priest.”

He remembered the day as if it was yesterday, the day he had sold his soul to Satan himself. Just after he had gotten the call that Edward’s plane had went down, he had prayed that he might step into his position. And the Dark Lord had answered his prayers, crowned him High Priest. But it all came at a price.

“I won’t do it”, he repeated now, still as determined as before.

Madam Satan raised an eyebrow. “Opting out is not an option, Blackwood. The Dark Lord takes what is his, _one way or another._ ”

He was half tempted to murder her at the spot, and send what remained of her back to Satan. “Why do you still do his bidding? He calls and you come creeping.”

She only laughed at the words, shaking her head. “Men.” Her eyes pierced through him. “You’re all the same. You want the glory, but won’t pay the price.”

Oh he had paid the price. And not only once. “I did everything he asked”, Faustus responded, still angrily. “But I won’t give him another one of my sons.”

Madam Satan sighed, almost dramatically. “You didn’t seem to have doubts the last three times”, she said dryly, turning the empty glass inside her hands. A snip of her finger, and it was filled again. Her eyes seemed to be glowing red in the dim light.

“This time is different.” With Constance, it had been easier. He had never loved her. The marriage had been arranged from the start, no emotions attached. He had watched her suffer through two miscarriages and one bloody childbirth, always knowing what was to come but still hoping, hoping he would find a way out.

Because on that rainy day eighteen years ago, he had struck a deal only the Devil would offer. And he had taken it, blinded by ambition, only to regret it later on. He so desperately wanted an heir now.

And Zelda. He couldn’t do that to her, look her in the eye knowing what he would take from her. Especially not since he had come to love her.

Again, Madam Satan was huffing. “The Dark Lord doesn’t care about your feelings for the woman. He just wants what is his.”

Faustus clenched his jaw, debating what to do. There had to be a way out of this. An alternative to the horror to come. “He can make another High Priest, I don’t care.”

She smiled knowingly, leaning forward across the table. “That is not an option.” Her eyes were gleaming, the reflection of the fireplace dancing across her iris. “He wants the baby. Or he'll take  _her._ ” She shrugged. “Choice is yours.”   
  
It was a wicked game she was playing at, but she was only the messenger. Satan was mocking him, making a fool of him. _How could he ever choose?_ Somewhere the Dark Lord was laughing. “He can have me”, Faustus tried again, a last desperate attempt to fix what he had broken a long time ago. He even meant it. 

But there was no fixing, no mending. Although the demoness seemed rather amused at his words. “How heroic of you”, she commented, striking a dark curl behind her ear. “Sadly, that is no option either.” Her voice was dripping in sarcasm. “You choose, Blackwood, or he does it for you. And you won’t like the result.”

Horror crept up on him, making the hairs on his body stand up. He felt trapped, hunted down like an animal. There was no way out of this, only two options where each seemed worse than the other. In his many years of ruthless decisions, bodies he had made disappear, people he had gotten out of the way for his own personal gain, nothing had ever been so hard to say out loud than these very words.

She was eyeing him expectantly, although he had a feeling she already knew his answer. But she wanted him to say it. Hear the words leave his mouth, watch him suffer under the weight of his conscience. If he had one. Sometimes she was not too sure.

“He can’t have Zelda.” Faustus took a deep breath, as if that would make things any better. He didn’t dare to phrase it any differently. In other words, he had just sold his son to the Devil. But he loved her. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

Madam Satan’s lips curled up in a smile. “Very well, then. The baby it is.” She left the whiskey glass on his desk as she turned away from him. “Always a pleasure speaking to you, Blackwood.” Her dark eyes met his one last time. “The Dark Lord sends his regards.”   
  
And then she was gone, leaving nothing but the vague scent of her perfume lingering in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this was an unexpected plot twist, let me know what you think is gonna happen next <3 (and please don't hate me for this)


	18. Chapter 18

It was midday when Zelda slipped into the High Priest’s office, silently closing the door behind herself. She knew that he was teaching conjuring right now, she had asked Sabrina about three times if she was entirely sure about the time, and had then decided to… take matters into her own hands, perhaps.

In all honesty she was not even sure what she was looking for, but the suspicion had not left her mind ever since she had used the Ouija Board those couple days ago. Therefore something needed to be done, and this seemed like the next best step.

Carefully she went over to his desk, sitting down on his chair and checking the drawers of the table. They were all unlocked, surprisingly, but mostly contained nothing but papers, past essays, and pens. It was horribly predictable, to be honest. The satanic bible was in the upper drawer, and Zelda skimmed through it for a moment. Faustus had added his own notes at some points, highlighting passages and quotes he had used in Black Mass. But that was nothing which would help her, in any way.

She then walked over to his secretary, opening it and studying its insides. It was mostly just different sized bottles of alcohol, and one empty whiskey bottle. Which was odd because she knew for a fact that he hated whiskey. Anyway, that had nothing to do with what she was hoping to find.

At this point, Zelda had almost lost hope that she would even come up with anything. She walked over to the last cabinet, the one he had used to store her brother’s Acheron Configuration before Sabrina had solved it and set a demon free. Perhaps this was one of the reasons he didn’t like her, after all he had not been able to solve it for a good twenty years. That must have hurt his ego quite a bit.

She opened the wooden doors, or attempted to, since they appeared to be locked. “Really?” she muttered, flicking her wrist and watching the lock click open. That had been easy. Obviously the High Priest had not even seen it fit to use a spell. Inside she found another huge stack of paper, and a small notebook lying on top.   
  
Its outside was brown leather, and it was sealed with another lock. This one proved a bit harder to open, she had to attempt quite many spells, but in the end also this one opened. Inside she found pages and pages of Faustus’ handwriting, with the corresponding dates on top of each page. _A journal._

Honestly Zelda had not been aware that he kept one, but she also had never asked. Edward had kept one, numerous ones, and she had read some of them after his passing. They had never quite made sense to her, but she had felt closer to Edward in that way. But after a time it had hurt too much, hearing his voice read out the sentences in her head, and so she had stopped.

The first date Faustus had wrote down had been twenty years ago, and from that on he appeared to have written down something ever so often. Some pages had dog-ears and one was even ripped out completely. He wrote about his becoming of High Priest, documented ceremonies he had held, and other work related stuff.

But she did not find a single word about Constance, or his marriage, up until she skipped to the end of the journal. There she found the date of Constance’s death, and the simple words “ _My wife died today.”_ The rest of the page was utterly empty, no indication of what he might felt while writing it. Suddenly she felt a little guilty for going through his private stuff like that. She tried to read as little as possible, only skimmed through the following pages of more descriptive passages about Dark Baptisms, Black Mass holdings, and Academy seminars.

This really was not helping her at all. What had she expected to find, anyway?

In the very end of the journal a couple pages were still empty, but she skipped over to the last one which had been written on. The date was set the day after their wedding. There was only one sentence, the handwriting not as neat and tidy as usual but looking rather messy in comparison. _I wish Zelda knew how much I love her._

She stared at the pages for a moment, almost dropping the journal in surprise. What was this supposed to mean?  
  
Suddenly, there was a noise outside the door. Quickly she put the book back inside, closing the cabinet and sealing it with a spell. She was hoping he wouldn’t notice the next time he opened it.

When Faustus entered she was leaned against the desk, attempting to look rather bored instead of entirely stressed out. “I was wondering when your class was finally going to end”, she commented, adding a smile to conceal the lie.

He raised an eyebrow at her, closing the door behind himself. “I didn’t know you were waiting”, he replied, putting his books down on the desk. “I finally collected your niece’s paper.”

This gave Zelda the perfect topic to discuss, actually. “Which is why I’m here”, she said smoothly. “Sabrina has been complaining about you assigning her more difficult topics than the other students.”

Faustus furrowed his brows, but did not seem particularly taken by the accusation. “Is that the reason you are now doing her assignments?”

Was she really _that_ predictable? Or did he just know her too well? Still, Zelda acted surprised. “I don’t know what you mean.”   
  
Obviously he knew she was lying, anyway. “Miss Spellman never could have known the last question by herself. We haven’t dealt with that particular spell in the seminar yet.” He shrugged. “And I don’t believe your sister is capable of solving such complex matters.”

Zelda crossed her arms defensively. “Why did you assign her the task in the first place, then? If it can’t be solved.” It appeared that Sabrina had not been entirely wrong with her observations, after all.

“Just to challenge her”, Faustus replied dryly, sitting down behind his desk. He seemed entirely unbothered.

Zelda, on the other hand, was everything but that. Perhaps that were the hormones, too. Making her feel even more maternal over Sabrina than usual. “To challenge her so she is not the best student of the seminar anymore?”

He huffed slightly, but didn’t answer.

Which told her all she needed to know, anyway. “No more extra work for Sabrina.” She eyed him firmly. “She has enough work to do with that mortal school.” Not that Zelda had ever understood why the teenager so desperately wanted to go to two schools, but her niece had a strong will and usually always managed to get what she wanted.

Faustus looked at her in silence for a moment, obviously trying to decide whether to just agree or extend the discussion. “Alright”, he eventually responded. “And no more cheating on tests because you steal the answers from my office.”

The words actually made her smile a little, she couldn’t help it. Although she felt quite called out. How could he know about that? “It’s your own fault if you leave them lying around”, she shrugged defensively. She sure as hell would not take the blame for this.

Faustus sighed. “I’ll go easier on Miss Spellman from now on.”   
  
This had all she had been wanting to hear. “Great”, she replied, looking over to the clock for a second. Choir practice was due in five minutes. “I need to get going.”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair. “I’ll see you later.”

She smiled, trying not to let the fact show that she was super glad to get out of his office. Quickly she turned around to leave, as Faustus concentrated on Sabrina’s essay.

None of them noticed the shadow of Madam Satan disappearing, holding the missing journal page in her hands.

 

Zelda returned home to the Spellman house in the late afternoon, parking her car and getting outside. Vinegar Tom was sitting in the yard, starring into the air and barking. She rolled her eyes, walking over to him. What was the problem now? To her surprise she noticed that a black raven was sitting on their fence, totally unbothered by the dog’s noises.

“Hush”, Zelda told her familiar, and the barking stopped immediately. The sound had begun to get on her nerves.   
  
She watched the raven for a moment, its eyes seeming to pierce through her. It had to be someone’s familiar, or so she guessed, because a normal bird would have flown off a long time ago. Quietly she began to recite the words of a binding spell, and as the raven noticed what was happening and tried to flee, it was too late. She had already sealed the house, making it unable for the animal to leave its grounds.

His black eyes starred at her in defeat, as she spoke another spell and now captured him in a black metal cage. She was not sure why, but she had the feeling he might be spying on her. The first person who came to her mind was Faustus, but she knew for a fact that he did not have a bird as his familiar.   
  
Actually his familiar was a dog as well, a huge black Doberman who used to scare the hell out of everyone at the Academy but was actually pretty sweet. Nowadays he usually wandered the hallways on his own, lying down somewhere to sleep, however during the first time of her pregnancy Faustus had loved sending him after Zelda to check if she was doing fine. Which was why he was the first person which came to mind as she carried the raven inside.

He had not made one sound the entire time, just watched her through piercing black eyes. She put the cage down in the hall, just as Ambrose walked downstairs. “Auntie Zee”, he noticed, already frowning at the raven. “Where did you get this little guy?”

Down at her feet, Vinegar Tom started to bark again, this time jumping up and down at her legs. “I found him in the garden”, Zelda explained, petting her dog’s head hoping he would shut up finally. Was he trying to tell her something? She wasn’t sure. “He appeared to be watching the house.”

Ambrose eyed the raven carefully. “I saw one like this yesterday evening, too.”

That was indeed quite odd. Still, she shrugged it off. “Might be a coincidence.”

Her nephew raised an eyebrow at her. "Spying ravens appearing out of nowhere just after we did an illegal ghost summoning? Sounds likely.”

She rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes he was quite the drama queen. “I’m handling it”, she ensured him, picking the cage up. All she needed to do was get the animal to talk.

But Ambrose interfered. “You’re pregnant, Auntie Zee.” Gently, he took the raven from her. “Let me do it.”

Actually she would have much rather done it herself, but he was not entirely wrong. Spellcasting did not reflect well on pregnancies at all, and judging from where her last wave of hysteria had gotten her, she could well do without another one. “Fine”, she replied, crossing her arms. “Try to find out who send him or what he is doing here.” She shrugged. “If he doesn’t talk, get rid of him.”

Ambrose made a face at her, but nodded. “We’ll see about that, Auntie Zee.”

Suddenly the raven began to scream, the sound echoing through the empty house. Vinegar Tom barked back, almost aggressively. Zelda really wondered what his problem was.

Slowly she knelt down next to him, running her fingers along his head. “What is it?” she wanted to know, watching the dog slowly calm down. His nose softly nudged against her bump. It was that moment that she finally understood. He was worried about the baby, apparently. “It’s all good”, she ensured him, still petting him.

But her familiar seemed to disagree, slowly shaking his head.

Zelda was beginning to lose her patience. “Who sent the raven?” she asked. He didn’t know. Simply marvellous. Did he know anything at all that could be of help?

The dog began to growl, tilting his head towards the kitchen. _The spirit summoning._

“What about it?” Zelda wanted to know, now more urgently. She had not been completely aware that he even had been present for that.

This time he barked, and she knew what he was telling her. He didn’t trust Faustus. Great, that made two of them already.

Still, she was not sure what to think of the whole situation. She didn’t dare to believe that he would really wish her or the baby any harm, that just didn’t make any sense. He married, her after all. That had not been her idea. She played with the ring on her finger, turning it around itself.

Suddenly, the door bell rang. Zelda rolled her eyes, getting up and walking through the hall. She opened the door, expecting to see Sabrina who had forgotten her keys once again. Instead, someone entirely different was standing in front of her.

“Miss Wardwell”, Zelda noticed, not even trying to hide the rather unfriendly tone in her voice. “What can I do for you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like this one, let me know what you think and why madam satan turned up at the doorstep... <3


	19. Chapter 19

Miss Wardwell smiled, striking a dark curl out of her face. “Lady Blackwood”, she purred, smiling a smile which seemed entirely forced. She always had quite the weird aura about herself.

Zelda was still standing in the door frame, not even attempting to let her inside just yet. Ambrose was still in the kitchen, making quite the noise, and Vinegar Tom was barking again. “What can I do for you?” she repeated her question, now even more unfriendly than before.

The other woman seemed just as unbothered as always. “I am missing my familiar”, she explained, pursing her lips a little. “He keeps flying off when I’m in class and I think he might have wandered into your house.”

Zelda still didn’t react, struggling whether to let her inside or not. Actually she had a feeling that she might be lying, since usually familiars did not just wander off and go somewhere they weren’t supposed to. They needed instructions from their masters.

Still, she wanted to see where this was going. “Do come in, then”, she replied slowly, opening the door a little more so the other witch could get inside. “Ambrose”, she asked into the silence of the house, waiting for her nephew to appear in the door frame.

“Yes Auntie Zee?” His eyes met Miss Wardwell’s. “Do we have a visitor?” he asked the obvious, glancing over to the kitchen for a second. He apparently didn’t remember that this was Sabrina’s teacher.

Zelda wanted to refresh his memory quickly. “This is Miss Wardwell, you remember her. The raven is her familiar.” She shot her nephew a look, hoping he would get the hint.

Ambrose seemed confused for another second, but then put on a bright smile. “Of course”, he replied, more friendly than he would have to be. “I’ll go fetch him for you.”

“No need to”, Miss Wardwell interfered, looking over to Zelda. “Stolas can be a little shy around other people.”

Ambrose ran a hand through his hair, glancing over to his Aunt. “Do follow me, then”, he eventually gave in, leading the woman into the kitchen. Zelda followed them, hoping her nephew had cleaned up after himself.

Fortunately he had, only the raven was sitting in his cage in the middle of the table. He began to scream as he noticed his master, nervously jumping up and down. Ambrose opened the cage carefully, letting the animal out.

He immediately flew over to Miss Wardwell, sitting down on her arm. She stroke his feathers for a moment. “I apologize for the trouble”, she said, looking in between the two Spellman’s. Her eyes were almost the same as her familiar’s, piercing through one like she was looking into the person’s very soul.

Zelda felt entirely uncomfortable, looking over to her nephew for a way out of this situation. Usually she would have just thrown the other witch out, but there was something about Miss Wardwell which made her really uneasy.

Tom was barking again, sneaking around Zelda’s legs and growling from time to time. He seemed to share her dislike for the woman, apparently.

“I wanted to congratulate you on your wedding as well”, Miss Wardwell eventually took the word, smiling in Zelda’s direction. “Sabrina told me”, she added, as if to explain herself.

Zelda did not really understand why the teacher would care, but she chose to just run with it. “Thank you”, she replied, giving her best attempt to sound friendly. It sounded fake in her own ears, though.

Finally, the other witch turned away to leave. “So sorry to bother you”, she repeated herself, eyes resting on Zelda for another few seconds. “Good bye”, she breathed, in the same dramatic way she seemed to do everything else. “I’ll find the door myself.” She left the kitchen then, the raven still sitting on her hand and silently croaking.

“That was weird”, Ambrose commented quietly, furrowing his brows. “I didn’t get the raven to talk, though. I tried, but it wouldn’t work.”

Zelda sighed, wringing her hands while she considered what to do next. Did this mean anything? Was Sabrina’s teacher now spying on her? That sounded awfully paranoic. It was probably nothing. Just a coincidence. Although there had been a lot of odd coincidences lately… Still, something about that woman gave her the chills. Perhaps it were those piercing eyes. The way she stared at you.

Sabrina seemed to like her though, trust her even, and she had helped her niece in quite some troublesome situations. For example with her stupid journey into mortal limbo, which to this day was the worst plan Sabrina had ever come up with. And Miss Wardwell had taken quite the role in that mess.

“I don’t trust her”, Zelda quietly told her nephew, as if she was afraid the other witch could listen in to her words. “If you ever see that raven again, get rid of it.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but did not object.

However no one of the two noticed the shadowy figure disappearing upstairs, and the raven which flew past the kitchen window.

 

Faustus was just about to leave his office and go home, since he had been able to convince Zelda to stay the night, as he felt the pair of glowing red eyes pierce through his back. Almost automatically, he sighed. “You’re back”, he noticed, turning around only to look into Madam Satan’s unpleasant face.

She slipped out of the shadows, walking through the room as if she owned the place. Which she did, in a way. “I just paid your wife a visit”, she replied, with the same unbothered expression she was ever wearing. Only the sparkle in her eyes told something different.

Naturally, that made him nervous. “Why?” he demanded to know, trying not to let his sudden worry show. “You didn’t touch her, I hope.” Not that Zelda wasn’t capable of protecting herself, usually, but Madam Satan’s powers were on another level, unfortunately.

This time, her lips curled up in a smile. “Oh no”, she answered. “I’m simply keeping in eye on her.” Her eyes gleamed in the candlelight.

He frowned, not really liking the concept of that. “Why do you care?” What else did the Dark Lord demand from him? He had made his decision, now Zelda was safe. Or should be. But the Devil seldom played by the rules, so much he knew. “Just leave her out of this”, he added.

Madam Satan raised a brow. “ _Out?_ It is her child you sold to the Dark Lord.” She sounded almost offended. “Besides you’re a real fool if you think that she isn’t clever enough to find out eventually.”   
  
He hated her way of speaking in riddles, even more than he hated that sly smile she was always wearing. “What does that mean?” he hissed, attempting to keep his voice down.

“She searched your office today.” Madam Satan’s expression was almost proud. “Went through your journal.”

Now that was a real surprise. For a moment he was out of words.

She seemed to sense that. “But don’t worry, Blackwood, I destroyed the page which held your little secret.”

He felt relief rushing through his veins, although he was still wondering what he had done that Zelda would mistrust him so much. But that was definitely not a topic to be discussed with the demoness. And besides his secret was safe, there was no way for Zelda to ever find out unless someone told her. Which lead to the question which side Madam Satan was on, truly.

“Why do you even bother?” he asked into the silence. “You could have let her find out, what do you have to gain from it?” He refused to believe she was acting without self interest.

To his confusion, she laughed at the words. “Oh, Blackwood. I only do what the Dark Lord tells me to do. And if he doesn’t want your little wifey to find out, then I’ll make sure she doesn’t.” She smiled. “In whatever way necessary.” It sounded like a threat in his ears.

He clenched his jaw. “If you lay a hand on her, I swear to Satan I’ll send you right back to hell, Demoness.”

She pursed her lips mockingly. “Men and their temperament”, she mused. “Make sure your wife stops digging. We don’t want her to find out something she isn’t supposed to.” There was nothing subtle about the threat in her words.

But Faustus knew Zelda very well by now, and if there was something she had set her mind on, there was usually no going back. Which was why this was going to be particularly hard. Especially since he had no idea where her doubts had come from in the first place. But there was nothing he wouldn’t do anymore to keep her safe, so much he knew.

Madam Satan remained silent for another moment, eyes still resting on the High Priest. “I entrust you to handle the situation. _Or I will.”_ With those words she vanished, becoming one with the shadows.

He was alone then, standing in the middle of his office.

 

It was already dark when Zelda arrived at the Blackwood residence, later than she had originally planned. Vinegar Tom had made quite the scene when she had tried to leave, jumping up and down, blocking her way to the door, barking so loudly she had thought he must have gone insane. It had taken her a good half an hour to calm him down, and her nephew had to basically drag him away from her so she could leave the house.

She had no idea why her familiar was acting like this when she was merely leaving him for a few hours, which was nothing new for him usually. Perhaps she should have taken him with her, but the thought of him barking the entire evening had stressed her out too much.

Edward was quite active this evening, moving and kicking against the inside of her belly. The movements were getting stronger with each day, and she had to resist the urge to smile whenever she could feel him. It really was one of the best feelings.

Faustus’ familiar, who had been lying in front of the stairs which lead to the front door, greeted her when she walked up to the house. He was sniffing at her hand, sneaking around her legs as she knocked on the door. At least there was one dog which had not lost its mind yet.

At first there was no answer, but then she heard steps inside and the door was opened.

He greeted her with a smile, pressing a kiss to her hair and leading her inside.   
  
In these moments, she really didn’t want to believe that something was off. Because whenever she saw him, everything was alright. Why would he be lying to her? She couldn’t find a reason, no matter how much she thought about it. He loved her. Or so she liked to believe.

“How are you feeling today?” he wanted to know, as she followed him into the living room. The concern in his eyes was real, not acted.

Carefully, she sat down on the sofa. She had been entering her third trimester recently, meaning half of the pregnancy was officially over. Ambrose had been running some tests and everything seemed fine, which made her belief that so far it was quite the uncomplicated pregnancy.   
  
Perhaps Zelda had been paranoid when she had wanted all those tests, most of them not even necessary. But she had been wanting to be absolutely certain.

“Fine”, she eventually replied, her thoughts having drifted away.

He took a deep breath, almost nervously. Then he sat down next to her.

She was surprised by the sudden lack of space between them, almost wanting to move away. But she didn’t.

“Zelda”, he began, eyes fixed on hers. “You don’t ever have to hide anything from me.”   
  
Those words came so out of nowhere, that it took her a second to properly react. She opened her mouth to reply, but then changed her mind. There was nothing to say, actually.

As she didn’t answer, he tried again. “I don’t want you to feel like you can not trust me.”

She breathed in nervously, feeling herself slightly trembling. “I don’t feel like that”, she replied quietly, attempting to keep a steady voice. Lying was so much harder when he was sitting so close, eyes capturing hers. She wasn’t able to tell if he believed her, either. Somehow she had the feeling he knew what she had been up to earlier today. Why else would he bring up such a topic right now.

“I love you, Zelda.” He said it in such a neutral tone as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “All I want is for you to be happy.”   
  
She almost believed him, right there. For a second, she forgot the doubts she had. Besides, had this dark side of his not been the thing which had attracted her in the first place? Because she liked a little danger, playing with fire and standing too close to the flame. She had always liked that. It made her feel alive.

Who cared if there was something mysterious about him, something dark? She was no angel either, anyway. Perhaps she was just too hard on him, with all those hormones racing through her body at the moment.

He leaned in to kiss her, then, resting a hand at the side of her face. His tongue ran over her bottom lip, teeth digging into the soft skin.   
  
And Zelda wondered if this was what playing with fire felt like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be quite the time jump after this chapter because i don't want to drag this story out overly long so prepare for some action in the next chapter <3 and please let me know what you think and how you think everything is going to play out!!


	20. Chapter 20

During the next weeks time seemed to basically fly, with Zelda not even realizing how much time had passed since the moment she had found out that she was pregnant.

Baby Edward was growing and growing, his kicks becoming stronger with each day. She started to buy baby clothes, furniture, and what ever else she needed.

Sabrina and Prudence even threw a small baby shower, although that was in no way something witches would ever celebrate. It was cute, though, and Zelda was happy that she girls seemed to get along finally. A little too well, maybe even. Satan knew what ruin those two could bring to the coven if they decided to work together the next time her niece had one of her crazy ideas.

Fortunately Sabrina had decided to behave as long as her Aunt was pregnant, obediently concentrating on school and her work at the Academy. On the weekends she hung out with Harvey, but only until 10pm, then she returned home and began studying or catching up on homework. All to avoid her Aunt having to worry.

In general, everything seemed to calm down slightly. Ambrose was still silent as a grave about the Ouija incident, nowadays mostly spending time with his boyfriend who had finally returned from Italy. Hilda was working, but in her spare time she was cooking tea for Zelda, knitting baby clothes or involving her sister in endless conversations about what they could do once the baby was born.

Only one front remained utterly unsolved, and that was whatever was going on between herself and Faustus. Their relationship – or marriage, for that matter – had had its ups and downs, that was for sure, but at the moment it appeared to be more valley than hills.

They had suffered through quite the heated discussion about Zelda’s position at the Academy, since he had argued she might not be in the condition to teach anymore, and she had gone out of her way to protest whatever argument he had prepared, only to almost faint in front of him in the process. Those moments had become more frequent since entering her fourth trimester, which occasionally made her quite worried.

Not as concerned as it made her husband, though, and so he practically threw her out of the Academy and sent her home. Ambrose had been checking her blood pressure and other vitalities recently, and had also told her that she should relax and calm down a little.

But Zelda was Zelda, and relaxing really was not her specialty. Especially not when she was alone in the Spellman house all day with no one but her nephew and his boyfriend. She could really do without that company.

And so she had begun to spend her day’s at the Blackwood residency, sitting in the winter garden and reading her way through his bookshelves. It was quite the calming thing to do, especially since he liked to write small notes onto the pages, which made it even more interesting to read. Sometimes Faustus’ dog was lying at her feet, or curling up next to her on the sofa when she had moved into the living room.

Occasionally she even brought Vinegar Tom along, hoping the dogs might hit it off, but they never seemed to much like each other. All they did was fight for the space next to Zelda, or growled at each other until one gave in and ran away. It was a tiring thing to watch, and so she left Tom at home with Ambrose.

It was a snowy day in the beginning of December when she was once again sitting on her usual spot in the winter garden of the Blackwood house, which in some way was her house now, too. She never spend much time with Faustus here, but alone it almost felt like she belonged. Outside the window snow flakes were falling heavily and the wind was howling, but Zelda was all occupied with reading _Ritual Magic Volume II_. She had not even noticed that Faustus was returned home, until he was standing in the door frame.

His eyes rested on hers for a moment, until he disrupted the silence. “I hope you’re reading that solely for educational purposes.”   
  
Zelda looked up from the pages, closing the book. “I was actually planning to have a sacred taking in your backyard”, she replied dryly, leaning back in the chair she was sitting on. At her feet, the dog was getting up and slowly walking over to his owner.   
  
Faustus petted his head for a moment. “Have you already eaten?” he wanted to know, his glance wandering over the stacks of books which Zelda had built in front of herself.

“No”, she shook her head. She had been pretty busy with reading, if she was honest. And had forgotten the time. Should she be home for dinner today? She couldn’t quite remember.

But he hated it when she didn’t spend the nights, since then he wasn’t able to watch her every move and make sure she wasn’t accidently choking on her food or whatever other dangerous thing might happen. With time he had really gotten quite paranoid, regarding her and the baby alike.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked in return. Her eating habits were something he was religiously watching over as well, but since he couldn’t cook for the death of him – and neither could Zelda, for that matter – they mostly just ordered in.

It was actually quite amusing to see the frightened delivery boy’s face whenever he needed to walk up to the house in the dark, Faustus opening the door and taking the food with such a serious expression that the boy might very well think he was a murderer. None of them ever dared to show up again, each time someone else came.

Now she shrugged, getting up from her chair. It was proving more and more difficult to carry the baby around with her at ease, the closer her due date was drawing. Her back pain had been getting worse as well, making it quite difficult to fall asleep at night. Faustus had assisted with a spell some nights, but in others she had just laid awake next to him, listened to his breathing and felt her little boy move and kick.

“I’m not hungry”, she answered him, putting the book down on the stack with the ones she had not read yet. It was the smaller one, out of the two. She was quite the fast reader.

In response he reached for her hand, drawing her closer. His eyes searched hers for a moment, before he pressed a light kiss to her hair.

Neither of them said anything for a minute, Zelda just carefully leaning against him while at the same time avoiding too much body contact. She was still unsure of what to do, how to act. Those last weeks he had gone out of his way to convince her that things were fine, even bought her flowers again, but she just couldn’t shake the doubts off completely. Especially not since she kept having nightmares, snippets of memories and parts from her vision of Edward returning. And he felt that, she knew he did.

Sometimes when she couldn’t manage to fall back asleep after waking from a nightmare she rolled over to his side of the bed and curled up against him, pretending to be asleep. Usually he would then put his arm around her and pull her against his chest, and she would fall asleep in that position. It made her feel comforted. But she didn’t feel comfortable admitting any of this when she was awake, especially not directly to his face.

Which was the main issue between them, and Zelda was brutally aware of it. She knew what was the problem, the dark cloud which seemed to be lingering above their heads. Up until now she still had not dared to speak it out loud, make her lips form the three words he had been craving to hear ever since they had gotten married. She knew exactly what he wanted from her, but she just couldn’t. It didn’t feel right.   
  
Besides, she didn’t quite believe him when he said it either, the _I love you_ always seeming to mock her. It was just something she would much rather do without, but he had said it, and now we awaited the next step from her.

She pulled away from him, then, the contact suddenly being too much. Why was he pressuring her like this, anyway? Of course he never said it, but the tension was ever there.

His hand was still in her hair, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. Obviously he had chosen to ignore the fact that she had tried to move away. His fingers were still intertwined with here’s, softly playing with the ring she was still wearing. Since the wedding she had not put it off once, actually.

“You’re going to be a great mother.” The words came out of nowhere, but there was almost a hint of sadness in his eyes when he spoke them.   
  
She looked up into his eyes, wondering where that had just came from. Sometimes she got the feeling that there was something she didn’t know, a reason for his behaviour. The overprotectiveness, the gifts, even the kissed. That there was something he was not telling her, deliberately holding back. She had never asked. But today, she didn’t feel like swallowing the words anymore. “What aren’t you telling me?” she replied firmly.

He furrowed his brows, expression frozen. “What do you mean?” It didn’t sound genuinely surprised.

She took a deep breath. “Something is wrong.” It was like stating the obvious, the thing she had known for weeks now. Which she had deliberately trying to play off as hormonal hysteria, but which had always been more than that.

“Aren’t you feeling well?” he asked in return, the lie concealed as badly as it could be.

Zelda pressed her lips together, wondering if this would ever lead anywhere. Had all of this been doomed from the start? “You know that is not what I meant.” Her eyes rested on him, expectantly.

He ran his fingers through her hair again, absently caressing her cheekbone. “I would never let any harm come to you.”

That was not what she had been wanting to hear, only strengthening her belief that something was off. Why else was he saying such things?   
  
Suddenly, just as she had prepared to answer, she felt a pain in her lower abdomen. It was as if something was cutting through her flesh, pulling at her insides. And in that moment, she realized what was really happening. _She was going into labour._

Only three weeks too early.

But timing had never been on her side.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry that this is sorta short but i really wanted to post something today. let me know what you think, how you think the birth is gonna be like etc <33


	21. Chapter 21

For Zelda it appeared to be hours later when she was lying in the basement of the Spellman house, only partly even noticing what was happening around her.

There was so much pain. She had never been the type to complain, sometimes even indulged pain, but this was something else entirely. With every second it felt like a hot burning knife was pressed into her spine, making its way through her flesh and bone down to her hips. In the beginning she had screamed, but it hadn’t helped, so now she was just lying down without ever making a sound, since the thought of having to move her lips seemed too overwhelming. 

Faustus had teleported her to the Spellman house, and Hilda had brought her downstairs immediately. Her sister had tried to calm her down, but her face had told Zelda all the truth she needed to know. This was all wrong. It was way too early, and the baby was in the wrong position entirely. Which was why it hurt so much, probably.

Over the years she had witnessed many births, all of them bloody and quite frightening, but nothing had prepared her for her own.

Hilda was rushing around her, trying to cheer her up, but the words never really seemed to reach Zelda’s ears. She had no idea what she was saying. All she felt was the burning in her body, which seemed to be everywhere by now.

To her own despair she had panicked quite a bit, throwing Faustus out of the room fiercely, which she now already regretted. She had not wanted for him to see her like this, but now she didn’t even care.

Sabrina had offered to assist as well, but the horror in her eyes had told Zelda all she wanted to know and she had ordered Ambrose to take care of her for now. Her niece was not really the type of person you would want by your side during a birth, to be honest.

Sadly enough things had gone everything but smoothly so far, and although the contractions came and went rapidly nothing was changing. The baby was not moving, let alone in the right position. He was lying the wrong way around, Zelda didn’t need an ultrasound to tell her so much. The pain told her enough of that matter.

There was already blood everywhere, and the red stood in sharp contrast to the white light of the room. She couldn’t even say how long it had been so far, and her vision was too blurry to even attempt and read the clock on the wall in front of her.

This was _not_ what it had been supposed to be like, not at all. She was supposed to have more time. Now her baby was in danger, and if she didn’t get this over with quickly his heart rate might slow down. She didn’t want to be the second Lady Blackwood dying in childbirth, or if she had to be she wanted her son to outlive her at least.

“It’s not working”, Zelda whispered, almost sobbed, after she had gathered all her strength to be able to speak. She wasn’t sure if her sister had even understood.

Hilda was reacting, though, quickly shaking her head. “It’s alright, Zelds, you’re doing great.” She smiled an encouraging smile, but her eyes were telling something different. Every so often she glanced away, and was already sweating nervously.

“I can’t do it”, Zelda added, this time more urgently. Perhaps she wasn’t fit to be a mother, after all. She didn’t feel like she was at the moment.

The pain rose again, making her gasp for air. It was like being suffocated from the inside out. With each contraction her internal panic rose, only to make things worse. She felt utterly weak.

Her sister was biting down on her lip. “You need to push, Zelds.”

Honestly, she had never seen Hilda so nervous. Not even during Sabrina’s birth. But that one had been a party compared to her own.   
  
“I am pushing”, she snapped back, although the words were half cut off by another contraction which made her sob in pain. Tears didn’t make it easier, though, and so she wouldn’t spill any. Not right now. “It just isn’t working.”   
  
She had always liked to think of herself as the sister with the better nerves, but right now she felt like she was loosing it. Breathing couldn’t quite fill her lungs with air anymore, each second was like suffocating very slowly.

Hilda seemed quite overwhelmed with the situation to be fair, but not as much as Zelda currently. “We still have time, you know, nothing to worry about.” She was really trying to sell the lie.

By now blood was dripping on the floor. That was not supposed to happen. Something was wrong, utterly wrong. And Hilda knew that just as well as she did. And in such situations, there was no magic to fix it, either.

Zelda felt like her entire back and lower abdomen were ripped open from the inside with every centimetre the baby seemed to move. If he even was moving, and that was not her imagination playing tricks on her.

She started to feel rather dizzy, everything around her spinning. There was just no energy left to push. “I can’t do it”, she repeated, although she hated how weak she was sounding.

Again, Hilda shook her head. “Of course you can.”

Zelda tried to breath steadily, ignoring the burning pain with every move her body made. In Satan’s name, what had she done to deserve this? Was this the punishment for her sins? But all she wanted was her baby to be fine, and that was the only reason she didn’t give up right there.

Hilda on the other hand seemed to grow more nervous with each passing second, although she insisted that everything was fine. It was not, obviously.

And Zelda was not even surprised, being honest. Something about this pregnancy had been off from the start, and she had come to accept that. If this was the price she paid for her son’s life, she would gladly do so. She just needed him to be fine. Even if she would not be there to see it.

The realization came from one second to the other, and suddenly she was utterly calm. “Hilda”, she whispered, trying to steady her voice.

Her sister seemed to be reading her mind. “Do you want me to get him?” she asked, still attempting to smile. But she knew. Had known for a while. There was no fixing this.

Zelda nodded weakly, breathing in slowly. The contractions came more regularly now, but the pain was a constant. The burning knife was making its way through her spinal cord, down to her hips.

Faustus was white as a paper when he entered the room, and for the first seconds she regretted even calling him in. This was no place for a man, after all. But she needed every possible thing to hold onto, and he just happened to be that. Besides there was something he needed to know, before it was too late.

His eyes were clearly reflecting the horror of the scene, but he never said anything. Just like that, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She reached for his hand, not even caring that Hilda was in the room. It made her feel better, if only slightly. “I’m so sorry”, she whispered, quiet enough for her sister to not hear.

“No”, he disagreed almost instantly. “I am.”

It was hard enough for her to concentrate on the words itself, but even more so if he made no sense. She was the one failing to bring this baby into the world, not him.

He glanced over to Hilda, not quite able to control his expression at the sight of all that blood. “What is happening?” he wanted to know, the panic not at all subtle. Obviously he didn’t quite understand. But how could he, men didn’t know of such things.

“I-I think it’s over soon”, Hilda stuttered, eyes flicking in between her sister and the High Priest.

Another contraction hit her, and Zelda whimpered in pain.

“You _think_?” Faustus hissed back, holding tighter onto her hand as if he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere. Not that it would help, in the end.

Hilda looked awfully stressed. “You need to push, Zelds, I’m so sorry.” She sounded like being in just as much pain as her sister.

That was easier said than done, and Zelda had been pushing for quite the while now. It felt like days. How long had it been, truly? Hours? _Minutes?_ Who even knew anymore. Time didn’t seem to exist.

She felt herself more and more drifting out of conscience, the pain occupying most of her mind. Her vision became blurry, like she was looking through a thick layer of fog. “Faustus”, she whispered, voice almost giving in. Tears were now burning in her eyes. If this was the end, he should at least know the truth.

But he interrupted her. “Don’t leave me.” He sounded terrified, truly. “I love you.” As if those words could make her stay.

She took a deep breath, her lungs burning just as much as every other inch of her body. “I love you too.” In this moment, the words left her lips easily.

The next second, a baby’s scream disrupted the air.

Zelda closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to hold on. “Is he alright?” she wanted to know, voice almost breaking.

Her sister nodded hectically. “He’s perfect”, she replied, the first tears running down her cheeks.

The pain had turned into numbness now, Zelda only half aware of her surroundings anymore. “You need to take care of him”, she breathed, not able to raise her voice anymore. She was just so tired. Her eyelids were heavy by now, daring to fall shut.

Faustus calling her name was the last thing she heard, and then everything around her turned totally black.

 

Everything played out so fast, Faustus not even able to grasp what was happening. Hilda’s tears, his son’s first scream, all the blood. And then Zelda’s eyes falling shut, and the whole world seemed to collapse around him.

Because this was his fault. He had made a deal with the Devil, and Satan had come to collect what was his. The choice had never been his. When the demoness had asked him to choose, she had simply wanted to know which was the thing he loved most in the world. And now the Dark Lord had taken her from him, fullfilling his end of the deal. Why hadn’t he realized sooner?   
  
He was supposed to have more time, more time with her, more time to prepare. The plan was drafted in his head, and he would have gone through with it. His life for that of Zelda and the baby, an eternity in the pits of hell so they could live. But battles with the Devil were not so easily won.

Faustus had simply been too slow to react, not wanting to leave when Zelda had already gone into labour. He had wanted to wait until the baby was born, until she would be safe.  
  
But now she was gone, and his entire world was shattered in front of him.

 _He had killed her._ And now he got to live with that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for this... i'll try to post another chapter this evening but no guarantees <3


	22. Chapter 22

Sabrina was sitting on the floor in front of the room her Aunt Zelda was in, staring mindlessly at the wall across from her. It felt like hours since Hilda had called Father Blackwood inside, who before had been pacing the hallway non stop, shaking with nervousness.

Ambrose was leaned against the wall next to her, not having moved one inch in the last hours. He appeared to be frozen solid.

Salem had curled up in her lap and she was stroking his fur, which calmed her down in a way. But she was still scared, and frightened, and everything in between.   
  
From time to time one could hear a scream or a cry from inside the room, making her shriek every time. Sometimes Ambrose would pad her shoulder then, or mumble some words in her direction. Occasionally one could even hear her Aunt Zelda’s dog barking, who had been going so crazy ever since the birth had begun that Ambrose had to lock him up in Sabrina’s room.

In some way she was happy not having to be inside and watch the events play out, but on the other hand she felt really helpless. And if there was one thing she hated, it was that. During the last weeks she had sometimes thought about what might happen when her Aunt went into labour, even asked Ambrose about how dangerous giving birth was for witches. He had said not too dangerous, but after all Lady Blackwood had died during it, so it couldn’t be without risks.

Suddenly it was really silent, not a single sound audible in the entire house. Next to her, Ambrose was breathing heavily. Then the door opened, and her Aunt Hilda came out. From the way she closed the door behind her hectically, the tear stains on her cheeks, and all the blood on her clothing, Sabrina could instantly tell that something was not right.

Salem stopped purring, slipping out of her lap and running away.

Very slowly, Sabrina came to her feet. “Aunt Hilda?” she heard herself asking, although that voice did not sound like herself. Ambrose’s hand was still on her shoulder.

Hilda took a deep breath, eyes flicking in between her niece and nephew. “I-I did everything I could”, she began to stutter, voice heavily trembling. “I really did.”

“Does the baby live?” Ambrose asked, entirely calm.

Her Aunt nodded very slowly.

Sabrina didn’t understand. What was happening? She looked up to her cousin, waiting for an explanation. Then she saw the tears in his eyes. _No, it couldn’t be._ “Aunt Hilda”, she repeated, this time her own voice was shaking. No no no. This had to be a bad dream. “Can someone tell me what happened?” She was panicing now. It didn’t feel entirely real.

Ambrose pressed his lips together. “She died, Sabrina. Auntie Zee.”

Even after hearing the words, they did not quite seem to reach her brain just yet. She couldn’t comprehend them. It was just a child birth. Not a demon attack, or something else which was overly dangerous.

Besides, they had a perfectly working Cain Pit in the garden. “Then we need to bury her in the yard”, Sabrina began, looking in between the other two. “ _Right?”_

Hilda was trying really hard not to cry, it was showing in her expression. “Sabrina”, she began. “The Cain Pit only works if someone has been murdered.”

Now this was a problem. Still, Sabrina had hope. There needed to be something they could do. They were witches, after all. She was not ready to give up just like that, especially not when the other option was accepting that her Aunt Zelda might be truly gone. She didn’t even dare to think that far. That could not be.

“We can resurrect her!” she blurted out, now almost desperate. She had done it before, it was easy. This time she would do better, bring back soul and body. She had studied it at the Academy, it would work. She knew it would.

Ambrose squeezed her shoulder a little harder. “It is forbidden”, he replied quietly. “One does not mess with life and death.” Honestly, that sounded like something Zelda might say.  
  
Sabrina turned around to him, now suddenly angry. They could not just let her die without trying everything. “It is Aunt Zelda we’re talking about!” she hissed. “We need to save her!” She looked over to Hilda for help.

But the older woman only escaped her niece’s eyes, staring onto the ground. “It’s too dangerous, love”, she whispered. “We can’t risk it.”

Sabrina shook her head in disbelief. _What were they thinking?_  
  
Anyway, this would not stop her. There was one last person she could turn to, one last person she now had to convince. Aunt Zelda would not die until she had tried every last thing possible to prevent it.

“Where is Father Blackwood?”, Sabrina demanded to know, crossing her arms. She was trying very hard to avoid the tears spilling from her eyes. This was all pretty overwhelming to say the least.

Her Aunt Hilda was wringing her hands nervously. “Love, I don’t think you should-”   
  
Sabrina interrupted. “I wasn’t asking for permission!” Could Hilda just tell here where he was? She needed to convince him before it was too late.

“He will never help you”, Ambrose insisted, but she didn’t listen.

He _had_ to. Otherwise… she didn’t even dare to think that far. Her mind was set on bringing her Aunt back, and that was all she cared about. Worst case she would do it on her own, or call Miss Wardwell so she could use her Book of the Death. She would even climb down to hell and drag Zelda back out, she didn’t even care. But she sure as well wouldn’t stand by and watch, like Hilda and Ambrose did.

“He’s outside with the baby”, Hilda whispered, as if it was a secret she was sharing.

That was all Sabrina had been wanting to know, immediately turning around to leave. She practically ran upstairs, rushing through the hall and outside into the yard.

She found Father Blackwood standing between the gravestones, holding his son and – to her huge surprise – actually crying.

Usually she would have started with some sort of respectful greeting, but today there really was no time. She just wanted her Aunt Zelda back. “You need to perform a resurrection with me!” she blurted out. It was probably she most disrespectful thing she had ever said to the High Priest, but it didn’t matter anyway. “Please”, she added. Carefully she walked a little closer, looking at the sleeping baby.

Father Blackwood took his time with the answer. “We can’t”, he simply replied then. “It is forbidden.”   
  
Why did everyone keep telling her that? “So?” she hissed back, crossing her arms. Her voice was loud enough that it might wake the baby. “What does it matter?”

“I am the High Priest, I can’t just bend the rules.” This time, he sounded a lot more stressed. Tears were still gleaming in his eyes.

Sabrina didn’t believe him for one second. “I thought you loved her.” She felt her own tears rise again. “I did. And I-” her voice broke for a second. “I can’t loose another mother.” Why was no one helping her, why did no one understand? Her Auntie couldn't just suddenly be gone like that... The first sob left her body, and she felt her cheeks turning wet. “She has to come back, I need her.” It sounded awfully desperate, but it was all she had left to convince him. 

The High Priest turned away slightly, as if he didn't want to see her tears. Perhaps it made him too upset. He shifted the baby in his arms.

By now, Sabrina was not just upset, but angry. Did he care at all? “Why don’t you do something?” She was almost yelling. “You’re the High Priest of the Church of Night, you can bring her back!” It was impossible for her to wrap her head around the fact that no one was with her on this. The tears were running down her face, but she didn’t care.

Finally, he was reacting. “I wish it were that simple, Miss Spellman”, he replied, no emotion whatsoever.

She didn’t understand, obviously. “I did it before.” He knew that, though. “I can do it again, I’ll do it on my own if I must. I’ll bring her back!” Never had she been so determined to go through with something.

The High Priest took a deep breath, now facing her again. “The Church of Night forbids resurrections.”

“Who cares?” she responded almost instantly. “It is Zelda we’re talking about.” She made a short pause. “You love her, don’t you? Shouldn’t that be more important than anything else?”

A few seconds passed in silence, before Father Blackwood finally responded. “Not a word about this to anyone.”   
  
Sabrina’s heart jumped with happiness, relief rushing through her veins. “Of course not, Father. I promise.” She almost stumbled over the words.

His expression was still dark, now looking down at the baby in his arms. Its eyes were still closed, the little hands clenched to fists. “Meet me in the woods in an hour, near the sanctum.”

She was quick to nod in response.   
  
Now it only had to work. But it would. It had to. There was no way she would screw this up, not again. And besides the High Priest was helping her, so what could go wrong?

 

  
Faustus’ eyes followed the teenager as she left and went inside the house again, wondering if he had just made the best or worst decision of his life.

Was it really a good idea to challenge the Dark Lord like this? If the resurrection even worked, which was a big if, there was still the issue what he would do next. Sacrifice himself?

But how did he make sure Satan would not just take his son instead? Holding him in his arms now, he did not feel like parting with him at all. As much as he loved Zelda, as much as his heart longed for her, bringing her back only to lose the baby seemed like a horrid option to him. Apart from the fact that Zelda would rip his throat out the moment she found out.

However living without her did not seem like an option either, so he had decided to go through with Sabrina’s plan, without knowing the outcome. But he had to take this risk, had to make sure he did everything he could to save Zelda.   
  
He loved her, and like Sabrina had said, maybe that was all that mattered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter for today, what do you think is going to happen next? <3


	23. Chapter 23

Sabrina was just meaning to slip out of the house, unnoticed by the other family members, but Ambrose stopped her in the hallway.

He blocked the front door with his body, raising an eyebrow at her. “Where are we headed, cousin?”

She shot him an annoyed look, debating whether to tell him or not. His help would not be the worst thing, perhaps. Carefully she slipped a little closer. “I’ll bring Aunt Zelda back”, she whispered.

Her cousin sighed. “Sabrina…” He was probably thinking she had lost her mind. 

“Father Blackwood is helping, this time it will work!” she quickly added. Why wouldn’t it? Last time she had not been powerful enough, but who was more powerful than the High Priest? No one, right? But a little extra help wouldn’t spoil the broth. “You can help”, she offered.

Ambrose scratched his head. “I am housebound, in case you forgot. Besides-” he leaned in a little closer. “I don’t want to leave the baby alone with Aunt Hilda.”

That really made no sense. Suddenly the baby was in danger? It was barely a day old, what could happen? “Why?” she wanted to know, crossing her arms. There was something going on she didn’t know, she could sense it. Sixth sense, maybe.

Her cousin bit his lip. “I’m gonna end up in the Cain Pit once Auntie Zee comes back”, he muttered, furrowing his brows. Quickly he looked around himself, as if he was fearing someone else might be listening in. “We did a spirit summoning, her and I. And the spirit told us that Father Blackwood might be a threat to the baby.” He was whispering, barely audible. “Which is why I’m worried something might happen.”   
  
That made sense, but also didn’t. Her Aunt Zelda summoning a spirit? In secret? That was odd, truly. Sabrina bit her lip. “Alright”, she replied slowly. “Stay, then.” But why would the High Priest be a threat? He just agreed to perform an illegal ritual with her, one that could very well rip both the realms apart.

Ambrose still looked at her, worry clouding his eyes. “Be careful, cousin”, he told her. “I don’t have a very good feeling about any of this.”

It didn’t matter. She still needed to try. “I just want Aunt Zelda back”, Sabrina replied firmly.

Her cousin nodded. “I know. Me too.”   
  
Upstairs, Zelda’s familiar was barking and by the sounds of it scratching on the door. Sabrina and Ambrose exchanged a quick look.   
  
“I’ll go check on him”, her cousin muttered. “Go now, Aunt Hilda is still busy with the baby.”

Salem rubbed up around her legs suddenly, purring quietly. She opened the door and he followed her outside, running up next to her. Out of a sudden he was attempting to block her way, hissing and growling.

“Salem”, she whispered, stroking his fur. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes travelled over to the other end of the yard, and Sabrina’s followed. A black raven was sitting on the fence, as motionless as if he was frozen in the chilly December air. His eyes seemed to pierce through her, and Salem stared right back.

She shook her head slowly. “It’s just a raven, Salem. Come on, do you want to come with me?” But her familiar did not react, only stayed right where he was. “Alright”, she shrugged, hurrying to leave the grounds before her Aunt Hilda might catch her. She didn’t give the raven a second thought, or the fact that he flew off right when Sabrina made her way into the woods.

 

Stealing Zelda’s body from the Spellman’s basement was the easier part of the ritual, which Faustus had actually never done himself. He had practised it, yes, for educational purposes, but only on mice and other small animals. But his book of the dead spoke of a human sacrifice, and so he decided to order a pizza. If the delivery guy was stupid enough to walk into the woods, it was his own fault. Natural Selection, one might call it.

He had just captured him and made sure he would shut up, when suddenly a raven screamed above his head and a shadow appeared between the trees.

This woman was the last person he wanted to see.

“Interesting way to honour your deal with the Dark Lord, Blackwood”, Madam Satan mused, stopping a few feet away. She was already wearing her smug smile.

For a second he considered whether to simply strangle her at the spot and be done with it, but he restrained himself.

Her eyes rested on the delivery guy. “Cute”, she commented, stroking back a strand of hair.

“What do you want?” Faustus hissed. Even just seeing her face made him explode with anger. _She_ was the reason Zelda was gone.

Almost offended, she raised a brow at him. “I’m here to help”, she offered.

Actually, he found that very hard to believe. And lying was her speciality, after all. Lying was what she did best.

She seemed to sense that he did not quite believe her. “I didn’t know about the Dark Lord’s plan”, she continued. “I was only told to get the answer from you.” A pause followed. “I never knew your wife was supposed to die.”

Faustus was still silent, wondering why she would tell him such things now. Honestly, he should have just murdered her the first time she stepped into his office. That would have saved him a lot of problems.

Madam Satan pursed her red lips. “I’m not very font of the idea that a woman is punished for her husband’s sins.” Her dark eyes were gleaming in the dim light of the forest. “Especially not when the husband is you, Blackwood.”   
  
He ignored the insult, especially since she was not entirely wrong. All of this was his fault, and it was weighting heavily on his conscience. Still he didn’t quite get what she was trying to say. “So?” he responded, rather unfriendly.

She rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head slightly. “You didn’t honestly think that reciting a simple text out of a book would make the Dark Lord let your wife go?” Her lips curled up in a smile. “Which is why I shall go to hell personally and make sure that she will be freed while you and Sabrina perform the ritual.”

Now that sounded totally like a set up. “And why in Satan’s name would you do that?” he returned the question, furrowing his brows. There was nothing she would gain from his arrangement, and that was an entirely unusual thing to do for a demon.

But her smile only became a little brighter. “Oh, I have my own motives, of course.” She made a step towards him. “In return for this generous gesture of mine, I shall be accepted as a full member of the Church of Night.”   
  
That was quite the good deal for him, so far. Faustus just nodded. She should have her membership, what did he care.

“And be granted a teaching position at the Academy of Unseen Arts”, she added, licking her lips in amusement.

Suffering her presence every day seemed like a small evil in comparison to what he was about to gain from this. “So it shall be”, he replied dryly. Still, she gained not enough from this arrangement that it would justify her behaviour. “What else?” he asked suspiciously. “That can not be it.”

Madam Satan only shrugged. “Women should stick together more”, she replied, sounding entirely unbothered by any of this. “Especially with men like you in charge.”   
  
She smiled a last smile, turning around on her heel, and vanished.

 

Sabrina arrived just when he had drawn the Pentagram on the ground with salt, placing Zelda carefully right in the middle. Around the circle, he had played candles. The pizza guy was standing in one of the five corners, eyes wide open and trying to scream through the piece of tape which was covering his mouth.

The teenager looked around herself for a moment, then back at the man. “Who is that?” she asked into the silence, giving Faustus a questioning look.

“He delivered the wrong pizza once”, the High Priest replied dryly, opening the book to the right page.

Sabrina was not sure if he was joking or not. But this was hardly the time for jokes. But killing a random person for her Aunt Zelda to come back seemed like a fair deal, to be honest. And she didn’t care much anymore. “Can we start?” she wanted to know, positioning herself on the Pentagram as well.

Father Blackwood opened the Book of the Dead in his hands.

Sabrina felt her heart beginning to race. “First we summon the hounds”, she whispered. “Right?”   
  
He nodded. “Just follow my words. We want to make sure Zelda returns body _and_ soul.” His hands which were holding the book were trembling.

“Hounds of heaven, hounds of hell, hounds of earth, guardians of the door, we summon thee to help us resurrect”, the High Priest began, and Sabrina repeated the words. It was the same text she had spoken before, naturally.

They added the rest of the spell in Latin, Sabrina giving her best to just recite whatever Father Blackwood was saying. This time everything needed to work out. She couldn’t screw this up again.

Suddenly, there was barking and growling around them. The High Priest seemed sort of surprised, even a little terrified maybe. But Sabrina simply smiled, listening to the sounds. _It worked._ So far, at least.

Father Blackwood continued with the spell, reading it out from the book. Around them, the candlelight died. White smoke rose into the air. Barely a second passed until another sound filled the air, this time it was like an old wooden door had been opened, its cracking filling the silence.

Sabrina felt her heart missing a beat. The door was open. But it had been like this last time, too, so it might not mean anything. Expectantly, she looked over to Father Blackwood. Did he know what to do now? Because it was time for the sacrifice.

Fortunately he seemed to be aware of that, so Sabrina didn’t have to say something. She felt the air vibrating around her, almost beaming like electricity. It was a marvellous feeling.

The High Priest walked over to the guy, who was starring into the air with horror. He was probably wondering what sort of nightmare he had stumbled into. The spell was spoken, his throat was slit, and soon after blood was watering the air of the Greendale woods. The body fell into the Pentagram.

“The hounds invoked”, Father Blackwood began, the knife still dripping with blood. “The door opened. The price paid in blood.” His voice echoed from the trees. Somewhere, a raven screamed.

Sabrina took a deep breath. “Zelda Spellman, we entreat thee”, she followed the words, still remembering them like she had just resurrected Tommy yesterday. “ _Rise!”_ She felt her own voice slightly trembling. It had to work. She didn’t know what to do with herself if it didn’t.

Very suddenly, it was silent. No sound was to be heard, not even the birds of the forest.

“What do we do?” Sabrina asked, trying to be rather quiet.

The High Priest cleared his throat. “Wait.” He closed the book at once, as if he was afraid what might happen if he left it open. “Thirteen hours.”

She remembered that, remembered the anxiety she had felt with each passing hour. But somehow, she also felt relief. It must have worked, she could sense that.

And if not, she might very well climb down into witch limbo and get her Aunt’s soul. There was nothing she wouldn’t do, and somehow she had a feeling that the High Priest felt quite similar. Perhaps there was still a chance for them to get along, some day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you think everything will play out eventually? <3 i'm planning to wrap it up in like two/three more chapters and then end the story!


	24. Chapter 24

She was back in the desert. The air was burning hot in her eyes, the sand was rushing below her feet. With each step she felt like flying, her body not really being solid. Her presence seemed to waver, not quite being there but also not somewhere else. Like she was lost, lost in the pits of hell.

Around her the dark red mountains were rising majestically, and a blood moon was gleaming above her head. Distant screams echoed through the air, the sound of a whip, then a loud growl. Footsteps on the ground. Then everything was shaking.

Zelda looked around herself, feeling incredibly lost. _Was this what being dead felt like?_ Or was her soul lost in limbo, damned to spend eternity wandering around between the two worlds? She had no idea. And that was the worst part of it all.

Suddenly, someone was calling her name. A figure appeared, and she had a strange moment of deja vu.

“Edward”, she said quietly, the words leaving her lips but voice sounding so different that she was unsure if it had really been herself.

He stayed a few paces away. “I couldn’t stop it”, he replied, shaking his head. “You’re here.” 

It was quite the obvious thing to notice. Zelda was wondering if this place was messing with one’s head.

“He killed you!” Her brother seemed almost enraged. “I warned you, why didn’t you listen?” It was a silent accusation.

Her thoughts were racing, confusion clouding her mind. What was he speaking about? “Edward”, she repeated, trying to sound calm. It was hard to hold the tears back. “I don’t understand.”

His eyes seemed to pierce through her, devouring her, body and soul. His figure appeared solid in comparison to her own changing complexion. As if she was not truly here, only partly lingering.

“I tried to warn you, sister.” Edward stepped closer, but never touching her. “I sensed what would happen, and tried to stop him.” Now his expression was almost sad. “But you never did listen to me, did you?”  
  
Who was he talking about? She felt incredibly helpless. Why couldn’t he just tell her the truth, without riddles, and leaving things out? “Listen to you about what?” she asked back, trying to make some sense of his talk.

Another scream disrupted the air, almost physically hurting her.

Her brother frowned deeply. “You never should have married him. He is dangerous, always has been.”

Slowly, the pieces seemed to fall together. _Faustus._ “The Ouija board”, she whispered.

Edward nodded. “I really tried, Zee. I did.”

She took a deep breath, although she had a feeling breathing was not really on her list of necessities anymore. “But I died giving birth”, she noted, still not able to wrap her head around how this would have anything to do with Faustus, her brother, or anyone else. Things like this happened, it had been a cruel coincidence. Or perhaps her own reckless behaviour, like casting spells.

But her brother seemed to disagree. “No, he-”

Out of a sudden, he broke off. His eyes were fixed on something – or someone – behind Zelda.

She turned around, looking into the eyes of a woman she knew quite well. “Miss Wardwell”, she stuttered, now even more confused than before. If that was even possible. _What in Satan’s name was this place?_ Could anyone just walk in here however they pleased?

“My dear I am afraid it is time to go”, the other witch smiled, eyes wandering over to Edward. “Your time has not quite come yet.”  
  
Zelda turned back around to her brother, eyeing him in question. “Edward, what is going on?”

She glanced over to Miss Wardwell, who was looking very much like she enjoyed the place. Although she was fitting in rather well, her figure being also only half solid, almost see through. Perhaps she was just projecting.

Her brother only smiled rather sadly, reaching out to touch her cheek. “Ask him about it, Zee.”

She had always hated his way to speak in riddles, but now it annoyed her even more. “About _what?”_ she demanded to know, but within the blink of an eye, his figure was gone. And she was alone with Mary Wardwell, turning around to face her. “What in seven hell’s is going on?”

The other woman raised a brow. “If you haven’t noticed, you died.” She said it like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. “But your delight of a husband and little Sabrina were quick to resurrect you, so no worries.”

Zelda was wondering whether she had gone crazy by now. Although this did sound like something her niece would do.

Still there was the question how Sabrina’s teacher fitted into the story. “Who are you, truly?” she asked quietly. “Sure as hell not a history teacher.”

The witch smiled, eyes sparkling with amusement. “I have many names”, she replied vaguely. “For now I am Mary Wardwell.”

This actually did not satisfy Zelda at all. “I won’t leave until I know the truth”, she demanded, crossing her arms.

To her surprise, Miss Wardwell or who ever she might be rolled her eyes at her. “You are not the one deciding whether to leave or not.” Her tone sounded rather amused. “And I would much rather leave the explaining to your husband, actually.” A smile formed on her lips. “I don’t like to clean up a man’s mess.”

Zelda eyed her suspiciously, attempting to make out if she was lying or not. She couldn’t tell, to be honest with herself. Especially not in her current state. However, she was in desperate need of a talk with Faustus. Someone would be ending up dead and buried in the garden tonight, if things continued to go like this.

The other witch seemed to be tired of waiting for an answer, since she just pursed her lips and stroke a hand through her dark curls. “We shall leave, then.”

This was another thing not making sense. One didn’t just _leave_ hell. It wasn’t like going for a nice walk.

She had meant to say something, argue against it, but barely a second later the world around her became dizzy, and then there was only black.

 

Zelda shot up, suddenly sitting straight. Bright lights were around her, burning in her eyes. It took her quite a moment to realize where she was, what had happened, who she was. It was all pouring down onto her, a mess of memories, feelings, thoughts.

She took a deep breath, lungs feeling with air.

And then she remembered.

Some more rasped breaths followed, trying to calm down her racing thoughts. It was then that she realized where she was. She was sitting in her own basement, in the embalming room.

Her eyes shot up, scanning her surroundings. She felt like throwing up.

It was not until then that she realized that she was not in fact alone. Faustus was looking at her from across the room, face a mixture of surprise and utter relief.

At first, she was not able to speak. Her throat felt too dry, her lips weren’t able to form the words. Everything felt unreal, like she needed a few moments to fully return to this realm.

“For the love of Lucifer”, she whispered, hearing her own voice and finally recognizing it again.

She could hear the deep breath he inhaled through the entirety of the room. “Praise Satan it worked!” he exclaimed, closing the distance between them and reaching for her face. “I thought I lost you.”

Zelda was not capable to respond at first, just mindlessly staring into his eyes. One part of her was tempted to kill him right now and here, shove a knife into his throat and be done with it.

But her other half was incredibly happy to see him, longing for his lips on hers. And so she just kissed him, trying to silence her mind for now.

The harmony didn’t last long, though, since she remembered what had needed to happen for her to even sit here.

And so she pulled away. “You _resurrected_ me?” she hissed, jumping from the bed she had been sitting on. Her legs still felt sort of weird, but she didn’t even care.

“What did you expect me to do?” he replied, oddly calm. Was he aware that she knew? Had suspected it all this time?

Actually she had no answer to that. "Resurrections are forbidden", she chose to remark.

He huffed a little. "Your mad that I brought you back?"

That was not at all why she was angry, honestly. It was much more so the fact that he appeared to have lied all this time, about everything. Even about the woman who claimed to be Miss Wardwell.

But that was not the fight for now. She wanted to see her baby. That was all she needed right now. “I might have to murder you for this later”, she muttered under her breath, but she was sure he had understood just fine. “But I want my baby.”

“Upstairs”, was all he responded.

She didn’t even think about what to do anymore, just rushed out of the room and made her way upstairs. Somehow, her feet just guided her into the kitchen.

Sabrina was the first one to lock eyes with her, jaw dropping open. “Aunt Zelda”, she whispered, tears already running down her cheeks.

Zelda wasn’t quick enough to react, and her niece was already curled up in her arms. She sighed, not quite able to resist the smile.

“I’m so glad you’re back”, the teenager sobbed, attempting to wipe the tears away. “I wasn’t sure the ritual worked.”

Good timing. “About that”, Zelda replied. “You’re grounded.”

Her niece looked rather startled. “I brought you back to _li_ _f_ _e_ ”, she began to argue, but Zelda wasn’t listening anymore.

Ambrose was pulling her into a hug, whispering how much he had missed her. It was rather sweet to be honest, and Zelda could not help but spill a tear or two herself.

But nothing could keep up with the moment she laid eyes on her baby, Hilda resting his little body in her arms. His eyes were closed, but the moment she held him, they opened. He had her brother’s eyes, truly.

Hilda was sobbing quietly, wrapping her arms around Sabrina. “I’m so glad you never listen to me”, she whispered, hoping Zelda might not hear.

She did, though, but couldn’t care less. Her baby was here, and safe, and that was all that mattered. Carefully she pressed a kiss to his head, trying to savour the moment.

Because she knew that when this was over, she would have to face darker things. Faustus had clearly been keeping things from her, and her encounter with Miss Wardwell in hell had told her enough of that. And she would find out the truth, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't properly proof read this i'm super sorry if there are any mistakes, english isn't my first language... but please let me know what you thinkk <33


	25. Chapter 25

It was long after midnight when Zelda was back at the Academy, the moon gleaming in the dark sky and the stars shining brightly. Edward had fallen asleep in her arms and she had found it hard to part with him, but she needed to get this over with. She needed to know the truth, now.

Against her habit she skipped the knocking at his door, afraid he might not even let her inside. Instead she just opened it, stepping inside the office.

Faustus was hidden behind his stacks of books, avoiding to meet her eyes when she entered. He did not even say something.   
  
Behind her, the door fell shut loudly. “Were you going to come and speak to me at some point?” she wanted to know, hardly attempting to conceal the accusation in her voice.

This time he put the pen down. “I was, actually.” He cleared his throat, getting up from his chair. “I understand that you’re angry-”   
  
_Oh, angry did not even begin to describe it._ “You lied to me”, she replied, tone dreadfully neutral. “All these months you kept something from me.”

Fairly enough, he did not try to deny it. Instead, attempted to blame it on her. “I was not the only one who lied.”

She raised a brow at him. That was the excuse?

“You went through my office”, he added, accusingly.

Zelda took a deep breath, feeling that her voice might tremble if she continued to speak. “I want to know what is going on here. Now.” Fortunately, she sounded a lot more calm than she actually was.

His eyes met hers for a split second, then he looked away again. Still, he was not speaking.

“Who is the woman who claims to be Mary Wardwell?” Zelda attempted to speed up the conversation. To be fair, the real Mary Wardwell was probably lying dead in a ditch somewhere. “I assume you know.” She sounded much more bitter than intended.

To her surprise, he huffed. “I should have gotten rid of her a long time ago.” He clenched his jaw. “Her real name is Lilith.”

 _The Queen of Hell._ That explained why she walked around like she owned the place. “And what is your business with her, then?” She hated herself for sounding jealous.

Of course he had to notice, something flicking through his eyes which she could not quite pin point. “It’s not like that”, he simply stated.

That actually made her even more upset. “What is it like, then?” By now she couldn’t hold her anger back. Why was no one telling her what was going on? It was her life, after all, which seemed to be falling to pieces.

Again, he cleared his throat. “I was hoping it would not come to this”, he began, an expression which was utterly sad. “I just wanted to protect you.”   
  
“I don’t need protecting”, she snapped back. It was almost insulting. “Just tell me what is going on.” Everyone apart from her seemed to know already, anyway.

Faustus clenched his jaw again, running a hand through his hair. He looked terribly stressed, anxious even. “Eighteen years ago I made a deal with the Dark Lord”, he blurted the words out, so hectically she barely understood.

At first, she didn’t quite get the meaning. “What sort of deal?” she followed up, fearing he might stop speaking again.

He was not able to meet her eyes. “I was young, ambitious, driven by the will to rise to the top.”

There was a short pause, Zelda not daring to interrupt. She forgot to breath.

“The day Edward’s plane went down, just when I heard what had happened”, his voice was quiet and rasped, like it was taking him quite the effort to continue. “I prayed to Satan that I might fulfil his position.” The guilt in his eyes seemed to weigh him down.

Still, Zelda was remaining silent. This was not the worst part yet, she sensed it. Something else was yet to come.

Faustus shook his head. “I struck a deal which made me High Priest.” The words were barely audible by now. “I agreed to never have a son, or heir.” Finally, he dared to meet her eyes. “I was the reason Constance miscarried, the reason she died giving birth.”

Zelda felt her own heart racing, almost jumping out of her chest. She might just as well faint at the spot. But her throat was too dry to even get a single word out. So she just stared at him in utter disbelief, and shock.

“The demoness," he made a face, “ _Lilith,_ came to my office one night and demanded for the deal to be fulfilled. This time, I objected.”

 _This time._ All those other times he had just stood by and watched. Constance had miscarried at least twice, and her twins had been stillborn. And he had done nothing. Because ambition was more important than anything else. Zelda felt incredibly sick. And betrayed, most of all. How could he have kept this from her, all this time?

But this was not the end of the story yet. “The Dark Lord wanted to make me choose.” He pressed his lips together. “Whether to save you or our son.”

She felt like her heart had stopped beating, lungs stopped working. It was like dying all over again.

He looked at her, expression painful. “But it was never my choice to make. Because the exact opposite of what I wished for happened.”   
  
Very slowly, her brain began to put the pieces together. _He had chosen her over Edward._ That alone was enough to make her snap, finally released from the numbness she had been stuck in.

She knew him well enough to know where he usually kept his pocket knife, and within a second she had reached for it and had it pressed to his throat.

To her confusion, he did not even seem surprised. Just leaned back against the table, eyes knowingly.

Somehow, that made her even more enraged. “You would have let him take our son?” she spit out, the betrayal burning its way through her heart.

“If that meant saving you”, he replied, not even bothered by the knife pressing deeper into his skin. His eyes were saying _do it, I dare you._

It scared her, how easy he could say such things. Watch everything crash and burn around himself just to save her, defy the devil, make a deal with his bride to rescue Zelda from hell. She had not been aware of how far he would go for her.

But this love had always been one of absolutes, neither of them very good with feeling normally. They were always bathing in extremes, either loving or hating with their entire soul. And sometimes, like right now, perhaps a bit of both.

And so she stared into his eyes, not able to properly tell if she wanted to slit his throat or not. By now the blade was drawing blood, scarlet drops gleaming in the dim light.   
  
Faustus never reacted, eyes drawn to hers like magnets. The air seemed to be filled with electricity, tension rising with each passing second.

Then she dropped the knife on the ground.

His lips crashed onto hers, and she forgot what she had even been mad about. Within seconds she was pressed backwards against the wooden desk, his hands already opening her dress. It joined the knife on the ground, and then he sat her down on the table.

Her nails scratched along his neck, fingers curling into his hair. She surrendered completely to the moment, feeling the positive rush of adrenaline in her veins. After all, she had never been able to resist him.

It was positively exhilarating, and when she felt his heated lips pressed to her neck, she wondered whether hate might just be another kind of love.

 

Afterwards Zelda remained sitting on the desk, attempting her best to close the zipper of her dress on her own. She failed however, causing him to help her. Neither of them was speaking, only listening in to the silence.

What was there to say, anyway? Zelda felt like a total hypocrite, first attempting to murder him and then letting him screw her on the table. She could not even take herself serious anymore. How old was she, _sixteen?_ Had she no control about herself, whatsoever?

Still, the argument was definitely not solved. And far from over.

At some point, she just decided to take the first step. “Do I need to fear for my son’s safety now that I’m not in hell anymore?” The phrasing was intentional. It was _her_ son, first and foremost.

Faustus looked at her for a moment before answering. “No”, he replied. “The deal is off.” It sounded as final as it could be.

“Took you long enough”, she responded, reaching over his desk into one of his drawers and lighting herself a cigarette. Slowly, she breathed out the smoke. Her own voice sounded bitter in her ears. There was nowhere to go from here, if she was honest.

Still, there were questions from her side. “Why would the Dark Lord just accept your decision?” she asked into the newborn silence. Satan was not known for his forgiveness or understanding nature, especially not when it came to such deals or pacts.

“I will resign from my position as High Priest.”

She looked up in surprise, not having expected those words. All these months ago, when he had told her he would give everything up for her, she had not believed him. It sounded too good to be true. “And then Edward will be safe?”

Faustus nodded, shifting a little closer to her. “I will make sure of it.” It sounded like a promise. “Besides I paid the price in blood for your soul returning from hell, so it was a fair deal.”

Zelda wondered what he had offered Lilith in return for her help, but she chose that she might rather not know. Some things were not meant to be discussed.

Still, there was something lingering, some pain inside her soul she was not able to shake off. It seemed to burn holes into her heart. “You married me knowing what would happen.” It was a sole statement, not even a question. “Lying to me this entire time.” In some way this hurt more than the entire labour. Knowing how he had betrayed her.

“Zelda”, he began. “Don’t do this.”

She took a long draw from her cigarette, the bitter taste filling her mouth. “What? Say things like they are?” Actually her voice had not meant to give away how hurt she was, but it did not quite work.

Faustus stopped in front of her, taking the cigarette out of her hand and putting it out on the table. A black circle remained on the wood, ash landing on the ground. He had never liked her smoking, she knew very well.

His hand found its way into her hair, tucking a curl behind her ear. “I love you.”

It might have been the first time she believed him, although she would much rather not, judging by what peril that had brought to all of them.

“Don’t ever lie to me again”, she replied. What did one do if the only thing hurting more than being together was _not_ being with each other? Zelda wished she had an answer. Her fingers played with the wedding ring.

All she wanted was for things to be okay again, returning to her normal life. Waking up next to him, and her baby, and just forgetting everything that happened. For once not run from it, but face the problem and work on it.

“I need to go home”, she said quietly. “Take care of our son.” This time the pronoun was intentional. She bit her lip. “Do you want to stay over?”

His face was genuinely surprised at the offer, but he nodded. “Of course.”

And as he kissed her again, she felt like she could forgive him after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll write one more chapter to wrap this up nicely, but i hope you're liking the direction this ending is going to <3


	26. Chapter 26

In the next days, Zelda learned what living with a baby really meant.   
  
When Sabrina had been a little girl, her sister had done most of the more unpleasant work, like changing the diapers or waking up at 4am in the morning. But now she had to do it herself, or send Faustus to do it. She and Edward were mostly staying at his place, since Sabrina had complained about the screaming baby and not being able to concentrate on school with three hours of sleep. Zelda could not blame her, honestly.

Apart from those incidents Sabrina had been loving the baby, carrying it around and telling stories, even buying him clothes and dressing him up. She loved to babysit, mostly with Prudence, who was quite font of her halfbrother as well. It was also Prudence who had taken on some of her father’s and Zelda’s duties at the Academy, now even being in charge of the satanic choir. Zelda was happy to see it in good hands, and also seeing a girl handle the responsibility so well.

Miss Wardwell – or who ever she truly was – was teaching at the Academy too, ancient history and satanic rituals, which quickly became Sabrina’s new favourite lessons. Zelda had considered telling her the truth, but then decided against it. But she had an eye on her niece whenever the other witch was involved, and made sure she never got too close.

Sabrina had even been able to convince her Aunt’s to celebrate christmas, although Zelda hated the mortal holiday and would much rather have spent it at the Blackwood residency cuddling with Edward, but her niece was quite the persuasive person and so she had gotten what she wanted, as usual.

Ambrose and Luke had bought a Christmas tree, Hilda had cooked, and Prudence and her sisters were singing Christmas songs which Sabrina had taught them. Zelda was happy to sit in the living room and watch the events play out, Edward sleeping in her arms and Faustus sitting next to her, not wanting to admit that she might even be enjoying it. Perhaps not all mortal costoms were so dreadful, after all.

It was New Years Eve when Zelda and Faustus, for the first time since weeks, were alone for some time.

Sabrina was out partying with her friends, leaving in a ridiculously short dress which reminded her much of the style Prudence liked to wear and which could very well be called ‘slutty’, but turned out to be stolen from Zelda’s own wardrobe. “I thought you wouldn’t mind”, the teenager had shrugged, before fleeing the house before her Aunt could even answer.

Ambrose and Hilda were taking care of Edward, Hilda being just as obsessed with the baby as she had been with Sabrina back in the days, and therefore leaving Zelda and Faustus with a few hours to spare.

First they were sitting in his living room, Zelda smoking and Faustus drinking red wine, which eventually ended in a rather heated session of lovemaking which left Zelda bruised and Faustus scratched down his entire back. Afterwards they went outside to watch the fireworks, another mortal tradition that one might actually find enjoyable, and when their lips met at the stroke of midnight, she felt as happy as she had ever been in her life.

The rest of the evening was spend in bed, bodies curled up next to each other and him playing with her hair.

It was an odd sort of intimacy they had developed, and although she had not yet dared to repeat what she had told him during the labour, she knew that he knew anyway. There was no need to say it.   
  
He liked to do it, though, whenever he left for the Academy in the morning, or before he kissed her, or when they were in the living room and she was curled up in his lap, half asleep already. Then he would whisper a soft _I love you_   into her hair and she knew he meant it, every time.

They picked up Edward at Hilda’s right in the morning, the baby still asleep when they returned to the Blackwood residency.   
  
Zelda then decided to slip back into bed, letting her son sleep next to her and pressing little kisses to his head. Somehow she wished he could stay this small forever, so that she could always keep him close and protect him. But of course she knew that one day that wouldn’t be possible, and so she liked to savour every little moment.

Faustus eventually joined them, wrapping one arm around Zelda and watching her cuddle with the baby. She had never actually been able to picture him with a baby, let alone the two of them as parents, but she had to admit it was a rather nice picture. Besides, _the Blackwood’s_ had quite the ring to it.

She much more cheerished the quiet moments though, when it really felt like they were a family. Sometimes she was even considering maybe adding a little girl at some point, preferably without the whole trip to hell this time.

Zelda was also glad that she had been able to use her influence on Faustus to guide him more towards Prudence, the two of them now spending much more time together. And since she was taking up work at the Academy, she had been able to make her father quite proud. Sometimes she also came over to dinner, playing with Edward afterwards and even sleeping over a couple times, getting up at night when he started crying.

In the end, everything had turned out quite alright. Even Sabrina had adjusted to Faustus being around, and if she still had any dislike towards him, she never showed.   
  
They were quite the little patchwork family, and being honest Zelda could not be happier about everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kinda short but i just wanted everything to wrap up nicely <3 i'm so thankful for every sweet comment i got, it really means a lot and i will definitely not stop writing about these two, don't worry!


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